Welcome to the Nancy Valenkamph Foundation’s Different Kinds of Cancer series. This is a short blog series where we talk about an array of cancers. The first on the list was Nancy’s diagnosis: Neuroendocrine Carcinoma. If you didn’t catch our first blog, CLICK HERE to be all caught up. We hope to promote education and awareness in the fight against cancer through our blogs. Today we will talk about lung cancer.
Chances are, if you live in Northwest Indiana, you’ve met someone with a lung cancer diagnosis. Afterall, working in an industry with hazardous toxins and pollutants is a lung cancer risk factor. If a loved one has ever been exposed to dangerous chemicals at work, they are at-risk. In addition, the traffic pollution and living by Chicago are risk factors. According to American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading kind of cancer in Indiana for 2020 (cancer.org).
For lung cancer survival, screening is key. According to Lung.org, screening high-risk individuals improves lung cancer survival because it is usually curable in early stages (lung.org). People at higher risk of developing lung cancer such as, industry workers, smokers, ex-smokers, and those who whom have been exposed to second hand smoke should be screened. According to lung.org, “Early detection, by low-dose CT screening, can decrease lung cancer mortality by 14 to 20 percent among high-risk populations” (lung.org).
Awareness and education help to promote early screening. At Nancy Valenkamph Foundation, our mission is to help find a cure for cancer. If you would like to be involved with our mission, a donation of any size would be greatly appreciated. Also, don’t forget to share this article with friends to get the word out about lung cancer screenings.
To find out about our future golf outings and how you can get involved, feel free to call: 219-477-9826 or email info@nancyvalenkamphcancerfoundation.com. We look forward to getting to know you!
