A new campaign is underway to raise awareness for Lung Cancer-the number one cancer killer.The campaign, sponsored by the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Foundation, features mounted bus ads all over San Francisco MUNI buses.

Shelia Von Driska, Executive Director for the foundation, says that the number of deaths due to lung cancer has gone up dramatically in the last decade. In 1987, the number of deaths caused by lung cancer surpassed those of breast cancer. More recently, doctors have found a disturbing rise in lung cancer among women in their 30s and 40s who are non-smokers.

“There’s sort of a false sense of security that you can’t get lung cancer if you don’t smoke, so we really want to save lives, that’s our ultimate goal,” said Driska.

The campaign is attempting to raise $20 million from a one million people for lung cancer research. With Sunday’s Academy Awards in mind, the creative and fun public service campaign features the headline “Best Picture goes to the CAT scan for achievement in detecting lung cancer early.”

A controversial water contaminant made famous by Erin Brockovich and a small California desert town is carcinogenic.

It’s been known for about 20 years that people can contract lung cancer when inhaling hexavalent chromium, also known as Chromium VI. But until now, toxicologists have been uncertain whether it causes cancer when swallowed.

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)  – A new campaign is underway to raise awareness for Lung Cancer—the number one cancer killer.

The campaign, sponsored by the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Foundation, features mounted bus ads all over San Francisco MUNI buses.

If there was something you could do to prevent the second leading cause of lung cancer, would you do it? Performing a radon test is easy, inexpensive, and can be done privately. This simple test can tell you if you have elevated radon levels in your home.

A previously unknown effect of an infectious agent relevant to the prevention and/or treatment of lung cancer has been discovered by a UMDNJ research team led by Melissa Rogers, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.

The infectious agent, mycoplasma bacterium, induces the synthesis of an important growth factor, BMP2, in lung cells. After enough time, mycoplasma can convert normal lung cells into cells that form tumors. BMP2 may accelerate this process. With the help of a two-year grant for $120,000 from the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research and a Team Science Initiative Grant from UMDNJ, Dr. Rogers and her collaborator, Dr. John Langenfeld of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, are working to understand the relationship between bacterial infection and BMP2 in lung tumors.

People diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer may enjoy a better quality of life if they get regular exercise.One-hundred-seventy-five study participants in Philadelphia were asked about their current exercise habits, as well as their habits before diagnosis and during the 6 months after treatment.

The Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009 does not address lung cancer prevention.  The bill states that 60% of new lung cancers are in non-smokers, but it makes no mention of radon gas, the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

On The Path Productions LLC, a San Francisco health media company, is spreading the word about lung cancer research and its need for funding. In conjunction with the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, On the Path (OPP) has produced and aired the national Life Love & Health: Special Edition program, examining the stigma associated with this so-called “smokers’ disease” and how it may be hindering a search for the cure.

“Lung cancer is the most prevalent cause of death among cancer patients in the US,” said Christopher Springmann, executive producer of OPP. “And it’s not widely understood that an increasing number of non-smokers suffer from this disease. In fact, 60 percent of lung cancers are now diagnosed in people who haven’t smoked in years or never even started. But the stigma as a self-inflicted disease has limited the available funds for research, and in this recession, as everybody’s funding sources are challenged, the need for contributions is greater than ever.”

Due to constant exposure to seasonal smog, residents in Chiang Mai face twice the risk of lung cancer as people elsewhere, a Chiang Mai University medical lecturer said yesterday.

The annual risk rate for lung cancer among the population in the North is now 40 per 100,000 people – compared to 20 per 100,000 people in other regions, said Assoc Professor Phongthep Wiwatthanadej.

Why ban smoking in restaurants and other public places? Supporters of the proposed smoking ban in restaurants say the measure would protect the general public from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and would improve the overall health, as studies have shown that reducing exposure to smoke can cut the risk of heart attacks, reduce the rates of lung cancer, emphysema and cardiovascular diseases.