The Triad1828 Centre office building in Camden City was among others in the state colored turquoise for a week earlier this month.
The Turquoise Takeover that lit up area buildings in New Jersey from May 5 through 11 shined a spotlight on lung-cancer awareness.
The color lit up the Triad1828 office building in Camden City – among other structures in the state – as part of Lung Cancer Action Week, an effort to raise awareness about a cancer that is not limited to smokers. The campaign was developed by LUNG FORCE, an advocacy and research arm of the American Lung Association.
The other structures were the Bell Works Water Tower in Holmdel, the Ten Exchange in Jersey City, Old Bridge Township and the Scotch Plains municipal building.
An estimated 5,420 state residents will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, and 2,670 will die from it, according to the American Lung Association.
“Anyone can get lung cancer, and no one deserves to get lung cancer,” said Deb Brown, the association’s chief mission officer.
More lung-cancer screening can be the result of efforts like Turquoise Takeover that are a “big part” of why raising awareness is so important, Brown explained. The association utilizes a quiz at Get screened – https://www.savedbythescan.org that can help determine whether someone should see a doctor and be screened with a low-dose CT scan.
As with most cancers, early detection is important. In addition to the quiz, being informed about risk factors is critical.
“Tobacco use is one of many risk factors,” Brown emphasized. “But multiple risk factors could have exposed someone to lung cancer.”
The American Lung Association recommends ways to minimize the risk of lung cancer that include not smoking; avoiding exposure to air pollutants that can damage the lungs; getting regular checkups; and exercising, among others. Efforts like Lung Cancer Action Week are an important step in improving survival rates, it says.
The lung cancer five-year survival rate increased 44 percent over the last decade, according to Brown, and 65 new treatments have been used to treat patients since 2016.
The association’s “State of Lung Cancer” report found the following about New Jersey:
- It is 15 out of 49 in the nation for rate of new lung cancer cases, at 49.6 per 100,000, a 10% improvement over past five years. The national rate is 53.6 per 100,000.
- It is nine out of 47 in the nation for survival at 31.4%, a 21% improvement over past five years. The national rate of people alive five years after a lung-cancer diagnosis is 28.4%.
- The state is 18 out of 47 in the nation for early diagnosis at 28.2%. Nationally, only 27.4% of cases are diagnosed at an early stage, when the survival rate is much higher.
- It is nine out of 51 in the nation for lung-cancer screening at 20.0%, among the better in the U.S. Nationally, only 16% of those at high risk were screened.
- It is three out of 47 in the nation for surgery at 25.8%, among the best in the country. Lung cancer can often be treated with surgery at an early stage and without a spread to other organs. Nationally, 20.7% of patients underwent surgery.
Brown also addressed the stigma attached to lung cancer that assumes a victim must have smoked, and that they deserved to get the disease. In truth, about 10% to 20% of lung cancers in the U.S. each year – or 20,000 to 40,000 – happen in people who’ve never smoked or smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes.
The stigma often makes people feel unworthy of treatment, according to Brown.
“When you talk to someone who has lung cancer,” she noted, “offer support and encourage them to learn.”
For more information, visit the American Lung Association at https://www.lung.org/ or LUNG FORCE at https://www.lung.org/lung-force. For more information about state rankings, visit https://www.lung.org/research/state-of-lung-cancer.
