Cancer Prevention Works: Launching Lung Cancer Awareness Month and Supporting Survivors

November 2019

Change the Course of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In fact, lung cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in men and women. These facts serve as a strong reminder that lung cancer awareness and actions to lower your risk are important to help change the course of lung cancer in communities. Smoking cigarettes causes about 9 out of 10 lung cancers. The most important action you can take to reduce your risk of lung cancer is to not start smoking or quit if you do smoke. Avoiding secondhand smoke can also lower your lung cancer risk. Adults age 55 – 80 who are or were heavy smokers may be at high risk for lung cancer. Talk to your doctor to see if screening is right for you.

Radon, a natural gas found in soil and rocks that can build up inside houses and buildings, is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Getting your home tested and treated for radon can lower your risk. Finding lung cancer early and better treatments are helping more lung cancer survivors live longer.

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CDC Shares the Impact of Cancer Registries at Briefing on Capitol Hill

One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) is a collaboration of national non-profit organizations representing millions of Americans, delivering a unified message about the importance of funding for cancer programs and research. On October 22, 2019, CDC was invited to attend an OVAC briefing held on Capitol Hill titled, "Cancer Research: Challenges, Progress and the Role of Cancer Registries.” Dr. Vicki Bernard of CDC’s Cancer Surveillance Branch led an insightful presentation and discussion on the importance of capturing cancer incidence data to help manage cancer research and surveillance.

Dr. Bernard highlighted how CDC cancer registries help address the impact of cancer among different populations, target cancer care for patients, and increase screenings. Additionally, Dr. Bernard focused on how improvements in the data completeness, timeliness, and quality could decrease the time it takes to report out on cancer data, help define research priorities, and identify potential clinical research candidates.

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New Data Brief on Lung Cancer Rates in American Indian and Alaska Native People

A new U.S. Cancer Statistics data brief looks at the burden of lung cancer among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among AI/AN men and women, the same as it is for the overall population in the United States. When it comes to lung cancer incidence rates (new cases) and the age at diagnosis, there are notable differences for AI/AN people. Lung cancer incidence rates were higher among AI/AN people in the Northern Plains, Alaska, Southern Plains and the Pacific Coast regions compared to non-Hispanic whites.

For AI/AN men and women, lung cancer tends to be diagnosed at a younger age with 23% of lung cancer cases diagnosed before age 60 compared to 16% among the non-Hispanic white population.

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Nine Caring Ways to Support a Lung Cancer Survivor

Many times, it’s hard to find the words or know what to do to support someone with cancer. Our new blog post shares a variety of ways that you can support lung cancer survivors. Most of the ways to support a lung cancer survivor are not that different from how you would support other cancer survivors. Some lung cancers are not related to smoking, so it’s important to understand that this stigma can be difficult for lung cancer survivors. For lung cancer survivors who did smoke, it may be helpful to understand that nicotine addiction is a persistent condition and long-term help to quit for good may be needed.

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Colorectal Cancer Screening Increases in West Virginia

Cancer prevention and control can make a difference in communities, and West Virginia knows firsthand. The CDC-funded West Virginia Program to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening worked with a local clinic to increase colorectal cancer screening uptake in the northern panhandle of the state. Wheeling Health Right is a free clinic for low-income patients, and most of its patients were 50 years old or older, the recommended age for colorectal cancer screening. Only 9% of patients at Wheeling Health Right were getting screened.

Through listening to patients about which test they preferred and sending them reminders to make sure they completed screening, the clinic increased its colorectal cancer screening percentage from 9% to 53% in 2017, and then to more than 67% in 2018.

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Research Spotlight

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Lung Cancer Incidence in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Counties – United States, 2007-2016 examines the decreases and differences in lung cancer incidence rates among men and women in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties. Smoking Cessation Behavior Among Older U.S. Adults looks at smoking cessation behaviors among older adults and how to help inform clinical and community efforts to increase cessation and help older adults successfully quit smoking. Adoption and Implementation of Evidence-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Interventions Among Cancer Control Program Grantees, 2009-2015 studies how CDC-funded awardees implement and maintain evidence-based interventions (EBI) to promote colorectal cancer screening.

Did You Know? Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk of getting lung cancer by 20% to 30%. In 2016, the number of new cases of lung and bronchus cancer reported was 218,229 and 148,869 people died of lung and bronchus cancer in the United States.