Pa. scores well in State of Lung Cancer report, room for improvement remains
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
The American Lung Association released a new State of Lung Cancer report on Tuesday.
It shows major improvements in the commonwealth, but a local lung cancer oncologist told KDKA-TV more needs to be done to diagnose the disease, especially in its early stages.
According to the American Lung Association's sixth annual State of Lung Cancer Report, Pennsylvania is among the top 10 states in the nation for lung cancer screening, treatment, and survival rate.
Pennsylvania was ranked eighth in the nation for screening, with 7.4% of those at high risk getting screened, seventh for treatment, with 16.7% receiving no treatment and 10th in the nation for a five-year survival rate, with 28.8% surviving after a diagnosis.
The report also shows there's still a lot of room for improvement to save lives.
"We've made a lot of progress in the last 10 years. The survival rate has increased about 27%, which is low but much better than it used to be," said Dr. Timothy Burns, lung cancer oncologist and researcher at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
Dr. Burns attributes that progress to better treatments, including surgery, but there needs to be more screenings.
"The issue is we're doing a horrible job with screening, so the good news is that Pennsylvania is in the top 10 for lung cancer screening, but that bad news is that we screened 7.5 percent of eligible patients last year, which is terrible," Dr. Burns said.
Dr. Burns said the vast majority of lung cancer cases are smoking-related, but around 26,000 never smokers are diagnosed a year.
"At this point for that population, we don't have any screening for those patients, so this is why it's such a common disease. It's the most common killer among both men and women," Dr. Burns said.
He said many times there aren't always specific symptoms, but the most common are cough, recurrent pneumonia, chest pain, fatigue, or weight loss.
"The bottom line is, if you have lungs, you can get lung cancer, and yes, smoking is a risk, but things like air quality, radon exposure, and genetics all play into that," said Aimee VanCleav, advocacy director for the American Lung Association in Pennsylvania.
VanCleave said Pennsylvania ranked poorly for radon test results. She suggests that homeowners use a radon test every year or two.
Meanwhile, VanCleave said the state legislature has an opportunity to protect Pennsylvania workers from secondhand smoke. House Bill 1657 would eliminate loopholes that allow smoking at casinos, bars, and other establishments.
"Which would mean fewer people are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals and carcinogens in their workplace, which is why we're calling on the legislature to advance House Bill 1657, which they are going to be voting on tomorrow," VanCleave said.
The Lung Association report said Pennsylvania is the 20th state in the nation for early diagnosis, with 27.3 percent of cases diagnosed in the early stages of the disease.
PA also ranked 33rd for the rate of new lung cancer cases, with 60 new cases per 100,000 people.
VanCleave encourages people to visit the Saved By The Scan section of the American Lung Association's website to see if they're in the high-risk eligibility group for lung cancer screening.
A screening could save your life.
According to the CDC, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scans for people between 50 and 80 years old who have a 20-pack-a-year or more smoking history and smoke now or have quit within the past 15 years.
The American Cancer Society recently updated its lung cancer screening recommendations. ACS now recommends annual low-dose CT scans for people aged 50 to 80 who have a 20-pack-a-year history of smoking.
The new State of Lung Cancer report can be found on the American Lung Association's website.
