November Is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

For Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) is highlighting the latest advancements in lung cancer treatments, screening, and smoking cessation resources.

Lung cancer causes the most deaths from cancer in the nation, accounting for about 1 in 4 of all cancer deaths in the U.S. Screening for lung cancer is one of the most effective ways to detect lung cancer at its earliest stages when it is most treatable and even curable. Unfortunately, far too few Americans – only about 6% of eligible patients – are routinely screened for lung cancer, resulting in thousands of preventable deaths every year.

Recognizing the need to connect all patients, especially those undergoing treatment for cancer, with smoking cessation resources, the ACS Commission on Cancer is also leading efforts to provide empathetic and accessible smoking cessation programs through the Just ASK and Beyond ASK quality improvement projects.

Essential Facts about Lung Cancer

• Excluding skin cancers, lung cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the United States.
• Lung cancer accounts for the most cancer deaths, causing more deaths than prostate, breast, and colon cancers combined. Roughly 25% of cancer deaths can be attributed to lung cancer.
• The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends annual lung cancer screenings with a low-dose CT scan for adults ages 50 to 80 with a 20-pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or have quit smoking within the past 15 years. The American Cancer Society also recently expanded its guidelines to encourage screening among this same population regardless of how many years ago they quit.
• A pack year is calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked. For example, a patient who smoked two packs per day for 10 years would have a 20-pack-year smoking history.
• Only about 6% of eligible patients are routinely screened for lung cancer, which is dramatically lower than rates for screening mammograms (80%) and colorectal cancer screening (70%). In some states, screening rates are as low as 1%.
• Some symptoms of lung cancer include difficulty breathing and coughing up blood, but these symptoms tend to appear when the disease has already spread and is more advanced.

In a recent analysis of lung cancer data, researchers from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) — a leading cancer database jointly operated by the ACS Commission on Cancer and the American Cancer Society — noted decreases in diagnoses of distant-stage lung cancer and increases in localized disease, which can be attributed in part to increased awareness and screening. Collectively, this data shows that screening for lung cancer earlier saves lives. The NCDB captures approximately 76% of all newly diagnosed lung and bronchus cancers in the U.S.

• More patients are being diagnosed earlier: From 2013 to 2019, there was a 4.3% annual decrease in distant-stage lung cancer (stage II or above), and a 3.6% annual increase in localized disease (stage I), indicating that more patients are being diagnosed at earlier stages. For adults under the age of 50, late-stage lung cancers (stage II or above) have decreased by 24.5% since 2011.
• Screening helps detect more lung cancers: For adults over the age of 65, diagnoses of early-stage (I) lung cancer have increased by 99% between 2011 and 2022. Diagnoses of late-stage lung cancers (II, III, IV) are also on the rise, increasing by 43% between 2011 and 2022.
• Earlier-stage lung cancer is survivable: Stage I lung cancer has a 5-year survival of approximately 60%; in contrast, a later diagnosis where cancer progresses to Stage II has a 5-year survival of 40%.

References:

Kratzer, Tyler B., et al. “Lung cancer statistics, 2023.” Cancer 130.8 (2024): 1330-1348.

Palis, Bryan E., et al. "The National Cancer Database Conforms to the Standardized Framework for Registry and Data Quality." Annals of surgical oncology (2024): 1-14.

Essential Facts about Smoking Cessation: Not Just about Lung Cancer

November is also Smoking Cessation Awareness Month. Quitting smoking has tremendous health benefits beyond just preventing lung cancer.

• Smoking is known to cause 12 different types of cancer, including lung cancer.
• Continued smoking can negatively affect cancer treatment and smoking cessation can improve survival.
• Quitting smoking at any time reduces your risk of dying from other diseases besides cancer, including heart disease and pulmonary disease.
• Most adults who smoke cigarettes report wanting to quit, but fewer than one in ten succeed in quitting each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• There are several different treatment options to promote quitting tobacco smoking, including medication, counseling, and social support.

Improving Accessibility of Smoking Cessation Resources

Asking for help can make a huge difference in the ability to quit smoking and develop healthier habits. Everyone deserves empathetic health care, but smoking resources are not always easily accessible or brought up during routine exams or appointments for cancer care.

The American College of Surgeons is leading efforts to incorporate discussions about smoking cessation into patients’ cancer care across US hospitals. Across the country, 776 centers accredited by the ACS Commission on Cancer joined the 2022 Just ASK Quality Improvement Project & Clinical Study, which led to an increase in the number of clinicians asking all new patients about smoking and identifying patients who currently smoke and may benefit from referrals to smoking cessation programs.

The next study, BeyondASK, will focus on empathetic and practical ways clinicians can assist patients with quitting, counseling, and medication, as well as referring patients to specialized programs that fit their needs.

Learn more about these initiatives.

Smoking Cessation Resources

• ACS Strong for Surgery (smoking cessation checklist)
• BecomeAnEx
• Freedom from Smoking – American Lung Association
• SmokeFree.gov
• 1-800-QUIT-NOW

References and Additional Resources

• Key Statistics for Lung Cancer – American Cancer Society
• Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Quit Smoking – American Lung Association
• Lung Cancer – American Lung Association
• National Lung Cancer Roundtable

Recursos en Español

• American Cancer Society: ¡Hágase sus pruebas!
• American Lung Association: Centro de recursos en español