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Lung Cancer Survival Rates Rise, But Low Screening Rates Leave Many People At Risk
Enlarge this image A doctor assesses a radio surgery treatment plan for a patient with lung cancer, using a 4D CAT scan. Lung cancer survival rates have increased lately. Ryan McFadden/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Ryan McFadden/MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesA doctor assesses a radio surgery treatment plan for a patient with lung cancer, using a 4D CAT scan. Lung cancer survival rates have increased lately.
Ryan McFadden/MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesSurvival rates for lung cancer are improving, especially among historically marginalized communities of color, according to a new survey from the American Lung Association released Tuesday.
The findings are a bright note amid deepening racial disparities in many areas in health care.
The five-year lung cancer survival rate increased by 22% in the five years between 2015 to 2019. It currently stands at 26.6% across all racial and ethnic groups. Among people of color, the survival rate increased by 17% in just two years (2017-2019), and now stands at 23.7%.
The survey results were "unexpected," says Zach Jump, director of epidemiology and statistics for the American Lung Association, adding that the speed with which racial disparities appear to be closing is remarkable.
"We are encouraged by the work being done to eliminate lung cancer stigma, increase lung cancer screening and improve lung cancer treatment," said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association in a statement.
Shots - Health News The American Cancer Society says more people should get screened for lung cancer Lung cancer is still the cancer that kills the most Americans, with 127,000 deaths last year. People of color tend to be diagnosed at later stages than their white counterparts, and are less likely to get access to treatments like surgery, which historically have reduced their likelihood of survival.
Survival improvements are not equal across all the races and some disparities still exist. The white survival rate is 25%, but the survival rate is 21% for Black Americans, 22% for Indigenous peoples, and 23% for Hispanics. These rates are an improvement over data from two years earlier, when the survival rates were only 18% for Black Americans, and 19% for Indigenous peoples and Hispanics.
Asian Americans survive lung cancer at higher rates than whites, and their survival rate jumped from 23.4% to 29% over two years.
Jump says he hopes these improvements can be continued, and replicated across other racial disparities in health care. "Honestly, that is our next question: Trying to find out what the driving factor is behind it."
The report also notes some stark geographic disparities in lung cancer survival rates. Patients in Rhode Island had a 33% survival rate, while Oklahoma's was 21%.
Overall lung cancer five-year survival rates are markedly lower than many other cancers. Breast cancer, for instance, has a 91% five-year survival rate, and colorectal cancer's rate is around 65%.
Survival rates for lung cancer could be higher, Jump says, if more people at high-risk got annual low-dose CT scans, which are an effective way to catch the disease early. When caught at an early stage, lung cancer's five-year survival rate is much higher at 63%.
But last year only 4.5% of those eligible were screened for lung cancer — a rate far below that for breast or colorectal cancers.
In fact, just over a quarter of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an early stage, according to the report, and 44% of cases are not caught until a late stage when the survival rate is only 8%.
Jump says lung cancer does not have to be the same dire diagnosis it once was, thanks to recent new treatments that are proving very effective, especially when used at an early stage. "Suddenly you started getting these targeted immunotherapies, and it was a paradigm shift," he says.
Jump says he hopes screening rates will improve, pushing survival rates higher.
It's rare to see such dramatic improvements in cancer care, and survival rates over such a short time, especially in ways that benefit disadvantaged communities.
"So often, cancer care in general and lung cancer especially moves at a pretty slow pace," Jump says. "So being able to see significant progress over a couple of years has been very exciting and definitely a cause for optimism."
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Prev NextLung cancer kills roughly 136,000 people every year in the US. But a new American Lung Association report found survival rates improved over a five-year period, especially for communities of color.
(WXYZ) — In today's Health Alert, the survival rate for the leading cause of cancer deaths is on the rise. Lung cancer kills roughly 136,000 people every year here in the US. But a new report by the American Lung Association found survival rates improved significantly over a five-year period, especially for communities of color.
I'm quite happy to share this encouraging news from the American Lung Association. Because lung cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer here in the US, yet it has one of the lowest survival rates.
Now the Association's report found that between 2015 and 2019, the five-year survival rate for lung cancer increased by 22% nationally. Data showed roughly 26.6% of those diagnosed with lung cancer lived at least five years. That was for all racial and ethnic groups combined.
However, breaking it down by communities of color, we also see encouraging trends. The survival rate for Black Americans rose from 18% to 21%. And for Indigenous peoples and Hispanics, where the rate was previously 19% for both groups, it has now risen to 22% and 23%, respectively.
As for Asian Americans, the survival rate jumped from 23.4% to 29% in just over two years. Their rate is even higher than that of white Americans, which is 25%.
Lung cancer can be effectively treated in a variety of ways, for example, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Advances in treatment are surely having an impact. For instance, immunotherapy is a newer treatment that uses drugs and other therapies to activate the immune system to fight off cancer.
But one thing that can really save lives is to get screened. According to the American Lung Association, lung cancer deaths could be reduced by up to 20% if people at risk were to get a low-dose CT scan. It's a quick and painless procedure. Eligible candidates include people between the ages of 50 and 80 who have a history of smoking one pack of cigarettes daily for twenty years or two packs daily for ten years.
Now, many people think they can skip screenings if they don't have symptoms. But that's a bad idea because lung cancer often doesn't cause symptoms until the disease is advanced. Those symptoms are:
Remember, the most effective way to prevent lung cancer is not to smoke or stop smoking. Also, avoid secondhand smoke, eat a nutritious diet, and exercise regularly. I also recommend testing your home for radon, as high levels can lead to lung cancer as well.
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Few N.J. Residents At High Risk For Lung Cancer Get Annual Screenings, Group Says
Just 2.7% of New Jersey residents in the highest risk group for lung cancer get annual screenings that could help catch and treat the disease early, according to a new report from the American Lung Association.
That's "significantly lower" than the already low national rate of 4.5%, the association's State of Lung Cancer report found. Massachusetts topped the list with a 11.9% screening rate, while California was at the bottom with 0.7%.
High risk individuals include current smokers or anyone who quit within the past year, those between 50 and 80 years old, and anyone with a smoking history of "20 or more pack years," which the organization defines as having smoked "1 pack a day for 20 years, 2 packs a day for 10 years, etc."
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