In the past year, the CHEST Foundation, the foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians, has created public service announcements and surveyed fans at sporting events such as the Daytona 500, Green Bay Packers football games, and the Indy 500. We’ve asked them questions about lung cancer, and the answers we’ve received aren’t too surprising.

When asked, “What is the leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women in the United States?” Many confidently answered with breast cancer, skin cancer, and colon cancer. The correct answer? Lung cancer.

This should come as no surprise to any of us. Public awareness of breast cancer is at an all-time high. Just watch an NFL game this month, or flip on the TV, and you’re bound to see pink ribbons and huge groups of survivors. This is great. Even skin cancer and colon cancer are getting time in the spotlight.

But, why and how can we get people to pay attention to lung cancer in the same way? We don’t have the answer, but we’re part of a growing movement to shed light on the truths about lung cancer and increase awareness.

The why:

• According to the World Health Organization, lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 1.8 million new cases in 2012. It is responsible for nearly one in five cancer deaths.
• American Cancer Society reports that lung cancer causes more deaths than colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers combined. An estimated 158,040 Americans are expected to die from lung cancer in 2015, accounting for approximately 27 percent of all cancer deaths.
• The National Institutes of Health reports the rate of new lung cancer cases (incidence) over the past 37 years has dropped for men (28 percent decrease), while it has risen for women (98 percent increase).
• The National Institutes of Health reports over half of people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed
• Smoking is widely recognized as a risk factor for lung cancer, but other lesser-known risks such as exposure to radon, asbestos, arsenic, beryllium, and uranium have all been linked to lung cancer. Diseases such as emphysema, COPD, and TB may increase risk. A personal or family history of lung cancer also increases risk.

The how:

On August 1, we launched our campaign, World Lung Cancer Day 2015: Honor, Unite, and Inspire, in recognition of World Lung Cancer Day, aimed to raise awareness about the global impact of lung cancer and encouraged a deeper understanding of lung cancer risk factors beyond smoking, as well as the importance of early treatment. We highlighted lung cancer risk factors often forgotten — personal cancer history, family history, radiation, radon, asbestos, arsenic, and comorbidities such as TB and COPD.  The campaign was launched collectively by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), which represents 70,000 global members.

World Lung Cancer Day was started by a lung cancer survivor and has been embraced by the lung cancer community (check them out on Twitter, #lcsm). The day celebrates survivors, remembers those who have passed, and spreads awareness to the general public about lung cancer.

We’re looking forward to continued involvement with World Lung Cancer Day (August 1 each year) and Lung Cancer Awareness Month (November of each year) but realize that we need to talk about lung cancer every day. While we know cigarette smoking is a risk factor, by acknowledging and sharing information about other risk factors associated with lung cancer, we can begin to help shift the perception of lung cancer as a disease that only affects smokers.

We encourage you to join the conversation around lung cancer. On Twitter, you’ll find a community of people joined together under the #lcsm hashtag. We’re thrilled to call them friends and look forward to continuing to march alongside them to increase lung cancer awareness, understanding, research, and education for clinicians and patients. We also encourage you to take a look at the resources created for World Lung Cancer Day, as well as the resources available from the CHEST Foundation.

Together, we can get people to pay attention to lung cancer.

Gerard Silvestri is president-elect, American College of Chest Physicians.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com