Mountain Pacific Blog

First: The facts.

• Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer. It takes more women’s lives than breast cancer and more men’s lives than prostate cancer. In fact, lung cancer kills more people than breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer combined.
• One in 16 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer at some point in their lives. Men are diagnosed more often than women.
• Symptoms can vary. Most people with lung cancer will not know it until the cancer has advanced.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, which recognizes the need to make sure people understand the risks for lung cancer and how to make moves to avoid them. Read on to learn what everyone needs to know about lung cancer.

What puts me at risk for lung cancer?
By far, smoking cigarettes is the leading risk factor, with four in every five lung cancer deaths tied to smoking.

In a distant second, though also dangerous, is exposure to radon gas. Radon is a natural gas that has no taste, no smell and cannot be seen. Radon occurs naturally in the ground and can leak into people’s homes through cracks or holes in the walls or floor.

Exposure to other pollutants in the air can also be a risk factor, including secondhand smoke, air pollution or diesel exhaust. People with a family history of lung cancer can also be at higher risk.

 What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
Different people can experience different symptoms from lung cancer, including just feeling generally sick. Most symptoms relate to respiratory issues, but people often do not recognize symptoms until the cancer has advanced or spread (metastasized). Lung cancer symptoms can include:

• A bad cough that does not go away or results in coughing or spitting up blood
• Chest or back pain
• Trouble breathing, shortness of breath or wheezing
• Feeling tired all the time
• Losing weight for no known reason

How can I lower my risk for lung cancer?

1. First and foremost: Do not smoke. If you do smoke, quit. Quitting smoking can be challenging, but those challenges are temporary. To help overcome those challenges, you can get support through local or state programs or helplines, or you can visit smokefree.gov. These support programs provide tools and resources to help build a plan and stick to it to quit for good.
2. Get your home tested for radon. If your home has never been tested, or if you are about to buy or sell a home, contact your state radon office about information in your area. You can either hire someone to test your home or get a test to do it yourself. You can also learn more about radon by calling the National Radon Hotline at 1-800-SOS-RADON.
3. Avoid secondhand smoke and other carcinogens (agents that cause cancer). Smoke from other people’s cigarettes, pipes or cigars can get into your lungs and increase your lung cancer risk. Ask your smoking friends and family members to keep your home and car smoke-free.

Working in places that expose you to other cancer-causing agents, including radioactive ores, chemicals you can inhale or diesel exhaust, also requires caution. Be sure to follow your workplace’s health and safety guidelines.

Should I get screened for lung cancer?
More than half a million Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer. While it remains the deadliest cancer around the world and here in the U.S., there is hope. Since 2006, the number of new lung cancer diagnoses has steadily gone down. Lung cancer deaths have also declined, likely due to advances in cancer treatment and to early detection.

Only one test is recommended for lung cancer screening: low-dose computed tomography, also called a low-dose CT scan or an LDCT scan. During an LDCT scan, a person lays on their back on a table that moves in and out of a special X-ray machine that takes images of their lungs. The scan is short and painless.

These screening tests are used to detect lung cancer early, improving a person’s chance to survive a lung cancer diagnosis. If you smoke or were a smoker in the past, especially if you are over the age of 50, talk with your doctor about whether you should get an LDCT scan.

This material was prepared by Mountain Pacific, a Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. 12SOW-MPQHF-AS-CC-11/23-364