Non-smokers can get lung cancer, too

I cannot begin to tell you the void this has left in my family. I have to admit, I didn't give much thought to the disease in the past. I, along with so many others, thought of it as a "smokers' disease" and left it at that. After doing some research, I have learned that this very smoking stigma has done an incredible disservice to many cancer patients. That's why I am trying to change that perception. Please mark your calendar for Aug. 1, the first worldwide Lung Cancer Survivors Day!

Lung cancer, often referred to as the "invisible disease", is generally asymptomatic and often goes undetected or misdiagnosed, while advancing to a late incurable stage. Only 15 percent of patients diagnosed in the late stages will survive five years. By the time my own dad was diagnosed, he was already at Stage 4. He lasted less than a month. Although early detection screening has been a topic of great concern and study, the established guidelines continue to leave a large percent of the population ineligible for screening. Remember, anyone can get lung cancer. Over 60 percent of newly diagnosed patients have never smoked or quit years ago (according to LUNGevity.org).

My dad for instance, had been smoke-free for 26 years before he was diagnosed. Lung cancer claims 160,000 lives annually. This is almost 10 times the amount of lives lost to AIDS (18,000 annually) and this is more than breast, colon, kidney and melanoma cancers ... combined. Yet despite these staggering statistics, lung cancer receives less research funding (per death) than any other type of cancer. It boggles the mind, doesn't it? Lung cancer patients face the same physical, emotional and financial hardships as any other cancer.

They battle the same fears, depression, losses and grueling treatments. Yet due to the smoking stigma, those battling receive minimal recognition and support from our society. Lung cancer is bad ... its victims are not. Like AIDS, alcoholism, obesity, drug abuse and a myriad of diseases that can be "rooted in causes," lung cancer patients deserve support, not shame and blame. For more information, please visit Lung Cancer Survivors Foundation on Facebook, and please, hug a cancer patient today.