Lung-Cancer.Com: Lung Cancer Research Receives Lowest Gov’t Funding Per Death
Lung-Cancer.Com is a crucial source of information for patients with mesothelioma, a form of cancer that strikes the band of tissue around the lungs. The web site also functions as a news outlet for the most recent research on other respiratory diseases that are attributable to asbestos exposure. Lung-Cancer.com provides updates on the latest work in the fight against mesothelioma and various other asbestos-related diseases.
According to a recent study from the US National Institutes of Health, lung cancer is the number-one form of fatal cancer in America. Over 157,000 people die every year from lung cancer, much more than most forms of cancer and more than several others combined. In terms of fatal diseases, lung cancer is second only behind heart disease. However, lung cancer research draws in the lowest ratio of federal grant money to death caused by the disease.
The Lung Cancer Alliance is a nationwide nonprofit group committed to supporting lung cancer research and advocating patient rights. A study commissioned by the Alliance showed that lung cancer research groups received just under $1,400 per death in 2010. The study compared the number for lung cancer research dollars per death to those of prostate cancer ($13,700) and breast cancer ($28,660).
Scientists are still working on a dependable screening method for the disease, although many such methods already exist for other forms of cancer. New chemotherapy remedies, surgical techniques and other tests for various types of cancer make regular headlines, but the development of similar tools for detecting and treating lung cancer have not kept pace. In many instances, doctors do not detect lung cancer in a patient until after the disease has spread and attacked other vital organs.
Kay Cofrancesco, director of advocacy relations for the Alliance, said that lung cancer patients earn only a small amount of public understanding due to the perception that they brought this on themselves by smoking cigarettes. Ms. Cofrancesco said that one of the side effects of the anti-smoking campaigns in recent decades has been that the smokers themselves have become “demonized”. “There is that ‘blame-the-victim’ mentality when it comes to lung cancer patients.”
The NIH study also showed that 80 percent of women and 90 percent of men who die from lung cancer were current or former smokers. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said that treatment methods for lung cancer have “a ways to go” when compared to treatments for other forms of the disease. However, he also said that “researchers are making headway” in creating new types of treatments that can prevent the disease from metastasizing and spreading to other organs. He also mentioned tests that can find “genetic markers” to determine how receptive a patient would be to certain therapy routines.
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