Lung Cancer Awareness Month: Lung Cancer by The Numbers
“Because in our pain we must find each other – mirror to mirror the grace of our shared humanity, the stunningly broken beauty of our shared grief.
And you can let your grief see my grief and let our tears mingle into some kind of healing alchemy, and you’ll know what I know.
That we are never alone. I promise. You and me? We are never, ever alone.”- Jeanette LeBlanc.
Behind the numbers lie the faces of lung cancer- and the faces are many. Lung cancer has, by far, the highest mortality rate among all cancers for both men and women.
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, so let’s look at it by the numbers and in doing so, the lives affected by this disease.
Our path, our journey, our fight is far from a solitary one. Remember, every number, every statistic is--or was--someone worthy of our recognition. The numbers that make up the lives affected by lung cancer are staggering, but our greatest hope is that we will see a decrease in these numbers every year.
Never alone. Lung cancer by the numbers:
400,000: Number of people in the USA who are currently fighting lung cancer.
3.3: The minutes between when another battle is lost for a lung cancer patient.
150%: The percentage of increase of lung cancer deaths among women over the last 20 years.
20%: The percentage of increase of lung cancer deaths among men over the last 20 years.
80%: The percentage of those fighting lung cancer who are over the age of 60, with the average age at diagnosis being 70.
17%: The percent of those with lung cancer who make a full recovery.
85%: Percentage of lung cancer patients who have a history of tobacco use.
15%: Percentage of lung cancer patients who have no history of tobacco use.
4%: The estimated number of lung cancer patients with the ALK-positive gene rearrangement.
30%: The percentage that second-hand smoke inhalation increases the risk of developing lung cancer.
228,820: Estimated new cases of lung cancer in 2020.
600,000: Yearly deaths worldwide attributed to second-hand smoke.
1:15: The lifetime chance for developing lung cancer for men.
1:17: The lifetime chance of developing lung cancer for women
2,100,000: The number of fresh cases of lung cancer worldwide in 2018
$79,818: The average cost for the first six months of lung cancer treatment.
58%: Percent of all lung cancer cases that occur in 2nd and 3rd world countries.
3 to 6: The number of months it takes an untreated lung tumor to double.
30: The number of celebrities whom have died from lung cancer. Among them are: Joe DiMaggio, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Don Knotts, Bob Denver, Steve McQueen, Nat King Cole, Donna Summer, Dean Martin, Andy Kaufman, George Harrison, Paul Newman, Dana Reeve, Walt Disney, John Wayne, Lou Rawls, Carl Wilson, Peter Jennings, Valerie Harper, Yule Brenner, Chuck Conners, Betty Grable, Duke Ellington, Jesse Owens, Vincent Price, Tammy Faye Baker, Rosemary Clooney, Humphry Bogart, Gary Cooper, and Beverly Sills,
2: Current Celebrities in treatment for lung cancer: Rush Limbaugh and Larry King.
Sobering statistics
So many lives are cut short or engaged in a current battle with lung cancer. But there is hope. The number of new lung cancer cases is continuing to drop—attributed mainly to fewer people smoking. However, cases involving younger people with little-to-no history of tobacco use are on the rise. Doctors don’t fully understand why.
Research is crucial to finding new therapies… but this same desperately needed research is criminally underfunded.
According to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America, federal funding for lung cancer research per related death was just $1,680 compared to $24,846 for breast cancer or $12,644 for prostate cancer. That’s quite a disparity!
The chasm is deep between the funding and the number of people waiting on new therapies to extend their life.
These numbers represent real people. If you have a history of tobacco use or have family members with lung cancer, talk to your doctor to see if a lung cancer screening is appropriate for you. However; new cases of lung cancer occur every day from people without any risk factors, shining a light that for many, simply owning a set of lungs was their only risk factor at all.
How Can You Help?
If you or a loved one is affected by lung cancer, the best thing you can do is spread awareness. Because many people make the inaccurate assumption that lung cancer only strikes the elderly whom have a history of smoking, there isn’t enough awareness in the general public that anyone with lungs can in fact receive a lung cancer diagnosis.
This needs to change. Here are some things you can do today to make a difference:
Write to your local and national representatives and ask that more funding to be allocated for lung cancer research.
Get involved with organizations that support lung cancer research such as Lungvity.org and ALKpostive.org.
Spread awareness in your community by wearing a white awareness ribbon (the color associated with lung cancer).
Share this blog.
Donate to lung cancer research.
1: You. Only you can help make a difference.
AUTHOR: Lori Mang