Lung Cancer

Resources at UNC       Resources in the Community       Organizations       Articles of Interest  

Lung Cancer Incidence in Never Smokers

Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer. Despite the improvement in treatments, about six in 10 people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed.

More than 80 percent of lung cancer cases are attributed to smoking. However, like Dana Reeve, one of five women diagnosed never smoked. (Sources: AP, American Cancer Society, and World Health Organization)  Five years after the cancer is found, the survival rate is 49 percent when the cancer is confined to the lung. Survival rates drop to 16 percent if the lung cancer has spread within the chest, and down to 2 percent if it has spread to other organs.

The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is part of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.  UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is a matrix cancer center at one of the nation’s premier public universities. There are several ways to help via the Lineberger website.  You can support Cancer research, treatment and prevention at many levels online there is no minimum or max.  Any gift over $1,000 annually (July 1-June 30) qualifies you for membership in the Lineberger Club and the Co-Founders of the Medical Foundation; gifts over $2,000 additionally qualify you for the University’s Chancellor’s Club.

Resources at UNC
Patients who receive their care at UNC and their families have many resources and programs available to them.

• Patient and Family Resource Center - Dedicated to providing emotional support and encouragement to cancer patients and their families, this center provides everything from coffee to books to wigs.

• Sole Sisters - Free, 14-week exercise program for women over the age of 21. Now recruiting for 2008 program.

• Get Real & Heel - An exercise and recreational therapy program for breast cancer patients.

• Planetree at UNC - Planetree is a non-profit membership organization promoting patient-centered care. As a member of Planetree, UNC provides programs and special services focused on patients' minds, bodies, and spirits.

• Coping and Support Services -  Talk with patient counselors or social workers. Learn about survivorship.

• Pastoral Care - Chaplains work with people of all faiths and religious backgrounds and an inter-faith chapel is located on the first floor of the hospital.

• UNC Hospice - Comfort care is available as needed.

• Cancer Survivorship Clinics - Are being created to enhance the quality of life for all survivors.

• Nutrition - A cancer dietician is available for free to help you figure out what to eat during your treatment.

Resources in the Community

• Support Groups - A variety of support groups are offered in area - locate one that works for you

• Project Compassion - This site provides support and community for people living with serious illnesses.Family House - Currently in the construction stages, this facility will provide an affordable, comfortable, and nurturing place for patients and their caregivers to stay during treatment at UNC Hospitals.

• Cornucopia House - An organization that provides education, companionship, and support for people with cancer, their families and friends.

• Rex Cancer Center - A comprehensive community cancer center that offers support groups and events as well as a variety of services.

Organizations:

Lungcancer.org -  a national nonprofit organization that provides free, professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved.

National Lung Cancer Partnership – (formerly Women Against Lung Cancer) is the only national lung cancer organization founded by physicians and researchers.  Their mission is to decrease deaths due to lung cancer and help patients live longer and better, through research, awareness and advocacy. Nationallungcancerpartnership.org

LUNGevity Foundation - Since 2001, the LUNGevity Foundation has committed to co-funding more than $4 million in innovative lung cancer research projects at the foremost cancer programs in America. These are all new funds supporting the most promising lung cancer research in the pipeline. Lungevity.org

American Lung Association - The American Lung Association supports basic and clinical research through training and “seed” grants for researchers who are at the early stage of their careers.  Lungusa.org

Lung Cancer Alliance – this is a resource site intended to provide information about this form of cancer.  lungcanceralliance.org

American Cancer Society – the nation’s largest private, not-for-profit source of funds for scientists studying cancer.  Below is additional local information for Davidson (volunteer info, fundraising, events, resources and advocacy info).  There are several Relay for Life events happening in the next couple of months in the Davidson area.  The following link provides info about those groups, contact info and ways to get involved on many levels.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/COM/COM_0.asp 

Relay For Life - Thousands of people attending Relay For Life events this year will have a chance to do more than raise awareness and money for cancer research: They'll be able to enroll in an important new study that promises to shed light on many of the factors that influence how cancer develops and why.  The American Cancer Society is recruiting 500,000 people to take part in a long-term study of lifestyle and cancer called the Cancer Prevention Study-3, or CPS-3 for short. There are 3 groups in NC participating but none in the Charlotte metro area.

Buddy Kemp Caring House - If you or someone you love is battling cancer, there is a place where comfort, hope and support live under one roof. The Presbyterian Buddy Kemp Caring House is a community support program for individuals diagnosed with cancer, their friends and families. We offer programs to thousands of families of all ages and stages from the Charlotte area and surrounding region. 

Lance Armstrong Foundation
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) unites people to fight cancer, believing that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything. We provide the practical information and tools people battling cancer need to live life on their own terms. We take aim at the gap between what is known and what is done to prevent death and suffering due to cancer. We engage the public at large to pursue an agenda focused on preventing cancer, ensuring access to screening and care, improving the quality of life for people affected by cancer and investing in needed research. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF is located in Austin, Texas. LIVESTRONG.org

International Union Against Cancer
Founded in 1933 and located in Geneva, Switzerland, the UICC is the world's only truly global consortium of cancer-fighting organizations with 300 members spanning Africa, The Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.  uicc.org

World Cancer Campaign
Launched by the UICC on World Cancer Day 2007, the Campaign is a five-year movement sharing knowledge about health habits parents can share with children to prevent cancer later in life. worldcancercampaign.org

Canyon Ranch Institute
Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) is a non-profit organization that catalyzes the possibility of optimal health for all people by translating the best practices of Canyon Ranch and our partners to help educate, inspire, and empower every person to prevent disease and embrace a life of wellness. Canyon Ranch Institute and our partners believe in the power and possibility of a healthy world. canyonranchinstitute.org.

Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation
We are here because we find it unacceptable that lung cancer is so largely ignored, underfunded and under-researched in this country, especially since it is the #1 cancer killer. The death rate is so high that 172,570 Americans were diagnosed in 2005 and 163,510 — more than 470 people per day — are expected to die this year from lung cancer. We find it intolerable that the federal government does not support more education and early detection screening for lung cancer, while it does for the other major cancers. We could go on and on. But instead, we prefer to put our energy into fighting for positive change. Our efforts to find a cure for lung cancer are tireless and unstoppable. http://www.thelungcancerfoundation.org

Articles of Interest

Lineberger joins Lance Armstrong Foundation Survivorship Network
January 28, 2008 — The Lance Armstrong Foundation today announced that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has joined the LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence Network to address the needs of the growing number of cancer survivors in the United States. Lineberger is the eighth network member institution in the nation. <<More>>

UNC cancer center scientist awarded lung cancer research grant
February 19, 2008 — The National Lung Cancer Partnership has awarded Dr. Albert Baldwin, a researcher at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, a two-year $100,000 LUNGevity Foundation Research Grant. Baldwin, an associate director of the Lineberger Center and the William Rand Kenan professor of biology and cancer cell biology in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ biology department, will use the grant to study how normal cells are transformed into cancer cells through molecular changes. The proposal for the research is titled, “Targeting NF-Kappa B as a New Treatment Option for Lung Cancer.” UNC Lineberger contact: Dianne Shaw, (919) 966-7834 or dgs@med.unc.edu

Parents support ban on secondhand smoke in public places, higher cigarette taxes
February 12, 2008 — The results of an annual survey show that North Carolina parents support stepping up the state’s anti-smoking efforts, including higher cigarette taxes and no-smoking policies in public places frequented by youth. <<More>>

World Cancer Campaign Builds Momentum Globally with International Initiative to Protect Children from Secondhand Smoke
The Lance Armstrong Foundation joins first global effort focusing on dangers of parental smoking in homes and cars
AUSTIN, Texas – February 4, 2008 – In the first global initiative of its kind, the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), a global consortium of cancer-fighting organizations, will lead a year-long communication, education and advocacy effort to promote smoke-free environments for children. <<More>>

Adapted from the NCI Cancer Bulletin, vol. 4/no. 8, Feb. 20, 2007
While smoking remains the predominant cause of lung cancer, a new study reveals that incidence rates of lung cancer among people who have never smoked (never smokers) are higher in women than in men. The study results were published in February 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. This study is unlike previous studies that focused mainly on mortality rates and that found men had higher lung cancer mortality rates than women. <<More>>

North Carolina Health Officials Urge Citizens to Test for Radon
Radon gas exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers
RALEIGH – Officials with the state Division of Environmental Health are supporting a nationwide campaign to recognize January as Radon Action Month and encourage people to learn more about exposure to the gas, the nation’s second leading cause of lung cancer deaths. <<More>>