LungBlog

In this interview, Roberta Cahill, of the American Cancer Society, answers questions regarding smoking and lung cancer. Cahill is Yankton Sioux and lives in South Dakota. Her work focuses on cancer awareness to diverse populations.

If you want to prevent lung cancer, the three most important things you can do are: Don’t smoke, don’t smoke and don’t smoke.

Lung cancer kills more men and women than prostate or breast cancer. But 80 percent of lung cancers could be prevented if people did not pick up that first cigarette. And if you quit, you can help reduce your risk of developing lung cancer over time.

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) issued its second annual Report Card on Lung Cancer, an assessment of progress in the battle against the number one cancer killer. For the second straight year, the majority of grades received were failing. The release of the 2006 Report Card on Lung Cancer kicks off Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

New results from a large, observational study suggest that using spiral computed tomography (CT) to screen people at increased risk for lung cancer can detect the disease at an early stage and may increase the number of people who can be cured. Currently, the vast majority of lung cancer diagnoses aren’t made until the disease is well advanced, and most of these patients die within 5 years.

Kicking the habit is the number one way for anyone to prevent lung cancer. But, there are no guarantees. Just ask Cecilia Izzo, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and now has difficulty talking and walking.

Although she sometimes struggles to speak, it doesn’t stop her from speaking out about lung cancer. She’s the one who started the one-of-a-kind support group  

“I always felt I needed a lung cancer specific group because whenever anyone would hear I had lung cancer, the first thing they’d say was: ‘Were you a smoker?,’” she said.  

“So what if somebody did smoke and they quit 20 years ago ? Should they still be punished. If somebody tells me they have cervical cancer, the first thing I say to them is not ‘What sort of sexually transmitted disease do you have?’ You just don’t do that. Lung cancer seems to be fair game for people.’”

Lung cancer took the lives of a number celebrities and others too soon, well before they could speak out about their deadly disease. Meet one celebrity spokesperson who’s creating awareness.

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Many non smokers get diagnosed with lung cancer. Why? The answer may linger in your home, the air and the tip of your tongue. And for those who want to kick the habit and keep your kids from ever taking a puff, there are solutions, some of which are heating up Hollywood.