College Reaches Millions through Cancer Awareness Messages

The ACS is well-positioned as a trusted voice that can educate the public about preventing surgical disease. November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and the ACS is engaging with media to spread the word about lung cancer screening.

Last week, Timothy Mullett, MD, FACS, Chair of the ACS Commission on Cancer (CoC), and Luis Godoy, MD, FACS, assistant professor in the Section of General Thoracic Surgery at the University of California, Davis, participated in a satellite media tour stressing the importance of lung cancer screening and smoking cessation. The potential reach of these interviews, through Tuesday, exceeded 10 million people.

Among the interviews included in the tour were ones by Dr. Mullett on CBS New York and by Dr. Godoy on the nationally syndicated Dr. Daliah radio program. Dr. Godoy also participated in numerous Spanish-language interviews as well, bringing our message to thousands of households whose primary language is Spanish. In addition, Daniel Boffa, MD, FACS, clinical director in the Center for Thoracic Cancers at the Yale School of Medicine, penned an op-ed that was distributed to more than 1,000 publications on overcoming some common barriers/excuses to lung cancer screening.

The early positive results in engagement for lung cancer awareness follows successful Breast Cancer Awareness Month outreach during October. Katharine Yao, MD, FACS, Chair of the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, and Ingrid Lizarraga, MBBS, FACS, Commission on Cancer State Chair for Iowa that also had a potential reach of more than 20 million viewers and listeners on television and radio.