LungBlog

June 25, 2008 marks a revolutionary day in history for anybody who cares about Lung Cancer, the Number One Cancer Killer in this country. It’s almost tantamount to July 4th, Independence Day, for Lung Cancer. For the first time, in the last four decades, Lung Cancer finally has a voice, thanks to Senators Chuck Hagel, Dianne Feinstein and the tireless work over the last five years of Laurie Fenton, Sheila Ross and the Lung Cancer Alliance.

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) hailed the introduction of legislation that creates the first ever multi-agency, comprehensive program targeted at lung cancer and authorizes $75 million to start the first phase of the five year program to reduce lung cancer mortality.

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) praised Georgia State Senators John Wiles (R-37th), Chip Rogers (R-21st), Judson Hill (R-32nd), Steve Thompson (D-33rd) and Doug Stoner (D-6th) for introducing Georgia Senate Resolution 1215 (S.R. 1215). 

Adopted by the GA Senate at the end of the 2008 legislative session, S.R. 1215 recognizes the tireless work and dedication of LCA-GA Chairs Ed and Linda Levitt to the lung cancer movement.

Whatever the cause - radon? cigarettes? asbestos? pesticides? pollution? - nobody knows.

What is known is that her sister might not have died if her cancer had been detected sooner. A test exists, a simple test, that could save lives, advocates insist, and that test is not being given.

Mammograms, colonoscopies, screenings for prostate cancer - these are routine. But a simple low-cost, low-level CAT scan that detects lung cancer in its earliest stages is not.

“We descended on the Capitol with the Cancer Promise in hand with the hope of securing support from our state leaders,” said Bryte Johnson, American Cancer Society Director of Government Relations. “With the early detection programs and prevention initiatives contained in the Comprehensive Cancer Plan, our state government will fulfill its fundamental responsibility to ensure that Connecticut residents have access to the quality cancer care they need and deserve.”
A bill currently under consideration by the General Assembly will provide the needed funding for the continuation of the Comprehensive Cancer Plan and programs, including tobacco cessation, breast and cervical cancer screening, and a lung cancer pilot program.

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance praised the efforts of State Senator Susan Fargo for helping shepherd first-ever lung cancer research funding bill through the Massachusetts State Senate Committee on Revenue. Senate Bill #2454 would establish a “trust fund,” known as the Commonwealth Lung Cancer Early Detection and Treatment Research Fund, which would be funded by a percentage of the cigarette tax and would support research grants for early detection and treatment.

Janet Anderson said she discovered a malignant tumor in her uterus two years ago.

But after beating cancer once, the non-smoker was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer last year. Low-dose radiation put the disease into remission, but there is always the chance it could come back.

She added that while this type of cancer is incurable, that could change with additional research.

Anderson said she continues to complete quarterly scans and blood tests. Her annual bills are $4,000 instead of the $12,000 she would be forced to pay if this care was part of a clinical trial.

“When you are fighting cancer, the last thing you want to fight with is your insurance company,” she said. “I’m here today because of people who went through clinical trials in the past.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal urged the legislature to allocate $15.7 million to the Connecticut Comprehensive Cancer Plan to restore the full services of the state’s Quitline and other vital tobacco cessation and education programs.

Blumenthal submitted testimony, as he met in Washington, D.C. with other attorneys general to discuss this issue and others at a National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) conference.

Last year, more than 13,000 people – in one month – sought assistance to quit smoking through the Quitline smoking cessation program. The Quitline is a successful smoking cessation program combining counseling and nicotine replacement pharmaceutical drugs, but the program exhausted its funding, and full service was discontinued to new applicants less than 30 days after it began.

Senate Bill 459, An Act Promoting the Early Detections, Diagnosis and Treatment of Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer, would enable restoration of the Quitline’s full services and other programs.

Putting their rhetoric aside, let’s look at their records when it comes to leadership in cancer treatment and prevention. A search of cancer related bills sponsored in the Senate by each candidate revealed one for McCain, and several proposals from both Obama and Clinton.

Obama has sponsored or cosponsored bills to accelerate genomics research (S 976), enable states to develop or expand activities to monitor exposure to environmental toxins and pollutants (S 1068), and improve biomarkers for the early detection and screening of ovarian cancer (S 2569).

Senator Clinton has sponsored or cosponsored bills to provide education on the health consequences of exposure to secondhand smoke (S 2005), support Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month (S Res 222), ask the President to declare lung cancer a public health priority (S Res 87), require health plans to provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer (S 459), and amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to protect the health of susceptible populations from trichloroethylene a probable carcinogen (S.1911).

Breast cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer are the most common and deadliest types, together accounting for 45 percent of cases and 52 percent of deaths.

“The good news is that we can do something about those three types of cancer,” Tucker said.

He said early detection through screening — and bringing down Kentucky’s high smoking rates — would greatly reduce the toll of these diseases. Currently, many patients find these cancers after they have spread, which is costly in lives and money.