Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM) 2021: Get Involved

Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM) is marked annually throughout November for spreading worldwide awareness on lung cancer.

Highlights:

Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer deaths worldwide
Lung cancer awareness month aims to draw focus on lung cancer and prospects to fight the disease
The awareness events are represented with white or pearl color ribbon throughout November

Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM) is celebrated throughout November every year to promote awareness and fight the stigma of lung cancer worldwide.

Quiz on Lung Cancer
Lung cancer and smoking are closely associated. Lung cancer risk increases with the intensity of smoking. For more details, take this quiz.

‘Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM) is marked annually throughout November for spreading worldwide awareness on lung cancer.’
Read More..

Burden of Lung Cancer

One of the leading causes of all cancer deaths worldwide is lung cancer. It is more fatal than the other three most common cancers – breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer combined.

Around 235,760 people are estimated to get the diagnosis of lung cancer, and 131,880 would die of the disease this year, 2021, in the United States as per National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program & American Cancer Society.

The two main types of lung cancer are

Small cell lung cancer – a common form
Non-small cell lung cancer – includes common subtypes like squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma

Health Hazards of Smoking Cigarettes
Smoking causes many diseases and affects the overall health of smokers.

Recognize your Risks

Common symptoms of lung cancer are:

Persistent cough
Shortness of breath
Wheezing
Chest pain
Coughing of blood/hemoptysis
Unexplained weight loss

Treatment of lung cancer is successful only before the symptoms begin. Hence, screening for lung cancer is important for a prompt and early diagnosis.

The foremost cause of lung cancer is smoking (90%). Other risk factors include:

Exposure to smoke (secondary), tobacco, cigars, radon, asbestos, nickel, chromium, arsenic, tar, or other toxic elements
Family history of lung cancer
Radiation exposure to chest or breast
Exposure to air pollution – outdoor or indoor
Consumption of arsenic-contaminated water

Smoking Risk Calculator
Do you smoke cigarettes daily? Use medindia smoking risk calculator and calculate your reduced Life Span due to Smoking.

Lung Cancer Awareness – Get Involved

A white or pearl color ribbon is used to represent lung cancer awareness through various activities. One may spread the word by getting on your whites and sharing the knowledge on lung cancer using the hashtag #ShineALightOnLungCancer, #LCAM on social media. Other initiatives include:

LUNG FORCE’s annual Lung Health Barometer survey
Lung Cancer Patient Meetup “On the Go”
Lung Cancer Awareness Month Facebook Frame
Lung cancer awareness screening activities, and fundraising

Many other ventures are initiated by organizations such as the Lung Cancer Initiative (LCI), The American Lung Association's LUNG FORCE, Lung Foundation Australia to provide community education opportunities on lung cancer and internationally recognize the struggles of lung cancer.

Folks are also invited to join for funding to promote life-altering research programs for better diagnosis and treatment to all lung cancer survivors.

The Lungs
The lungs are our organs of respiration. It is within these, that exchange of gases takes place.

Events Initiated

Some of the events organized for promoting lung awareness are:

LCAM Online Survivor Luncheon
Hope Gala – To "Put Hope Center Stage" for 14th annual celebration of survivorship and awareness
Education program on "Lung Cancer Treatment & Biomarkers: Make it Personal" (November 16 Online and In-person)
3rd Annual Global Virtual Cancer Conference (November 18 - 20)
Open House (November 30) with LCI
Get Your Home Tested for Radon through Rebuilding Together of the Triangle (RTT)

Promote the Research

More screening techniques aid in the early prevention of lung cancer. It is found that the 5-year survival rate of individuals diagnosed with lung cancer has increased to 50% with the latest treatment strategies.

In addition, there are 50 FDA-approved treatments for lung cancer when compared to only three (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation) before 2000.

To promote constant improvization for lung cancer:

FDA granted accelerated approval of amivantamab (RYBREVANT – a first fully-human bispecific antibody) in May 2021 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Prevent Cancer Foundation® has granted the support of 10 projects (each with a one-year grant of $25,000) to cut down lung cancer deaths by 40% by 2035.
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has released new guidelines on lung cancer screening in March 2021 to foster early diagnosis.
Shine a Light for Research also funds to upkeep the ground-breaking research on lung cancer.

Hence, it is vital that the community as a whole join hands to raise hope for better diagnosis, and treatments, ultimately encouraging a cure for lung cancer in the future.

References:

Lung Cancer Awareness Month - (https://www.lung.org/lung-force/about-lung-force/featured-campaigns/lung-cancer-awareness-month)
Lung Cancer Awareness Month November - (https://www.preventcancer.org/event/lung-cancer-awareness-month-2021/)
LUNG CANCER AWARENESS MONTH - (https://www.aacr.org/patients-caregivers/awareness-months/lung-cancer-awareness-month/)
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month - (https://lcfamerica.org/get-involved/november-lung-cancer-awareness-month/)
Lung Cancer Awareness Month: 2021 Immunotherapy Research Updates - (https://www.cancerresearch.org/blog/november-2021/lung-cancer-awareness-month-2021-immunotherapy)

Source-Medindia