Funding A Future Without Lung Cancer

Lung cancer has a dismal survival rate, with only a fifteen percent chance of surviving five years, and a less than 1% 5-year survival chance if diagnosed at stage IV, the stage at which it is most commonly diagnosed. It kills more people per year than colon, breast, and prostate combined. In fact, it kills more than twice as many women per year than breast cancer. There has been a negative stigma with the disease because of its relationship to smoking. However, sixty-five percent of the new cases of lung cancer are among nonsmokers and former smokers. The good news is, there are several new, effective targeted treatments with low toxicities on the horizon. Unfortunately, the funding for lung cancer has been insufficient to support the much needed research and discoveries.