Lung Cancer: A Personal Story about the Invisible Disease

Online, November 18, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Cancer is personal.  A disease that causes the cells in a person’s own body to turn against them is about as personal as it gets.  Everyone will know someone with cancer in our lifetime, frequently more than one person and sometimes a person in their own family.  What is interesting is that of all the types of cancer out there, lung cancer is one of the few left that has a stigma attached to it.  People assume that if a person has lung cancer they are or were a smoker.  Whether true or not, this stigma makes many people feel that lung cancer is a disease that is not sympathetic at best, deserved by its victims at worst.  Similar to how the stereotypes attached to AIDS in the 1980’s and 90’s hindered research, the stigma attached to this disease prevents many from treating lung cancer as the crisis it is.  

The statistics on this disease are staggering.  Each year almost 160,000 people will die in the U.S. from lung cancer that is a rate of approximately 438 people per day. The majority of those individuals will be women.  Lung cancer is the second largest killer in the U.S. behind heart disease and will kill more individuals each year than breast, prostate, pancreatic and colon cancer combined.2     

Yet even though people know how overwhelming the need is, lung cancer ranks far below breast cancer and prostate cancer in terms of funding dollars received - in large part because of the stigma associated with the disease.  But the truth is markedly different.  Current smokers make up only 20% of patients, while 60% of patients are former smokers or former light smokers and surprisingly, the final 20% is made up of individuals that never smoked.3  But whether an individual smoked or not, no one deserves to suffer from a  disease. 

So how can this disease be prevented? Like with any cancer, research is needed to find treatments and a cure.  Awareness also needs to be created so that the stigma associated with lung cancer does not hinder research or add to the pain of people already fighting for their lives.

To help promote lung cancer awareness WorkerAnts.com is featuring the story of a lung cancer fighter, Michael, on their website this week.  Diagnosed with this disease in 2012 he is a husband and a father who has chosen to turn his disease into an opportunity to help others.  He uses his time as he fights this life threatening disease to share his story and advocate to break the stereotypes surrounding this horrific disease and increase research funding so that future generations can have hope of a cure.  Read Michael McCarty’s compelling story on WorkerAnts.com and join us in supporting him and his cause.

WorkerAnts.com is a charity network that creates a place where people can collaborate, share best practices, and see hope in the ways people around the world are striving to make this world a better place  They give people a place to be heard and to connect with charities, volunteers and activists. 

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