ACCC Honors National Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Every November we remember National Lung Cancer Awareness Month, with Saturday, November 12, also being National Lung Cancer Screening Day. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the second-most common cancer detected in both men and women in the United States. Lung cancer accounts for nearly 25 percent of all cancer-related deaths in this country. According to estimates by the American Cancer Society, 235,740 individuals will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 130,180 patients will die from the disease in 2022.

President Joe Biden recently released a proclamation on National Lung Cancer Awareness Month in honor of the progress the country has made and to call upon the oncology community to collaborate to continue making progress against lung cancer. “For the loved ones we have lost and all those we can save, we recommit to investing in cutting-edge screening, prevention, and treatments, making them more affordable and effective, and uniting this country in our movement to end cancer as we know it,” said President Biden in his proclamation.

ACCCBuzz recently had the opportunity to speak with Caroline Wolf, lung screening outreach coordinator for the Breathe Easy Mobile Lung Screening Program at CHI Memorial in Chattanooga, Tenn.

ACCCBuzz: How many patients does CHI Memorial’s mobile lung cancer screening see in a year?

Wolf: Last year, 1,603 patients were screened using the mobile program. This year we anticipate surpassing that number, screening over 2,000 patients in 2022. 

ACCCBuzz: How will these events address barriers to screening, particularly for your patient population?

Wolf: CHI Memorial’s Breathe Easy mobile lung CT (computed tomography) coach allows us to take low-dose CT lung screening out into our communities and reach people who may not have access or the opportunity to get this scan otherwise. 

Those who are at highest risk for lung cancer and are ideal candidates for low-dose CT screening include:

• Current or former smokers
• People age 50 to 80 who have smoked for 20 years (one pack per day or more)
• People who quit smoking within the last 15 years.

The Breathe Easy mobile lung CT coach serves 17 counties in Tennessee and eight counties in northern Georgia. 

ACCCBuzz: What is CHI Memorial doing to promote November as National Lung Cancer Awareness Month?

Wolf: We have been working with our community to hold various events at the end of October and throughout the month of November. One of our biggest has been a partnership at a Baylor School, a local high school. This high school was chosen specifically because of the number of lung cancer cases that is currently affecting this tight-knit community.

Events have included:

• On October 16, Dr. Rob Headrick and Chris Draft (a caregiver and board member of The White Ribbon Project) met with the high school’s softball team to cut and send white ribbons
• On October 27, Baylor School’s students were invited to paint and sign ribbons. The ribbons were then handed out to the community. This is to tie together the overall message of sending love with ribbons (made and passed out with love), which helps us to discuss lung cancer
• On October 31, the high school’s science day saw students learn about lung cancer with the goal of spurring interest in the next generation of researchers and scientists.

We will keep this momentum going in November, with students passing out ribbons in the community. On November 28, Dr. Headrick and Draft will speak in front of Baylor School’s student body to recap the month, where 1,000 red socks with white ribbons will be distributed to students and faculty so we can all ‘Sock It to Lung Cancer.’

ACCCBuzz: What is The White Ribbon Project?

Wolf: The White Ribbon Project was built out of a grassroots movement to build community, reframe education, increase awareness, and remove the stigma attached to the lung cancer community.

ACCCBuzz: What is the Sock It to Lung Cancer campaign?

Wolf: Dr. Rob Headrick our Chief of Thoracic Surgery at CHI Memorial Hospital, hands out socks with white ribbons on them every where he goes. No one wants to talk about lung cancer, but they will ask about a unique pair of socks.  It serves as an invitation to talk about lung cancer, and help break down the stigma around lung cancer.

ACCCBuzz: Are there any key community partners that engage with this work? What does this collaboration look like?

Wolf: We partner with many organizations in the 25 counties we serve. Most partners allow us to use their space to park the mobile coach for community screenings. Some partners, such as the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union and local YMCA, also support outreach and marketing efforts by distributing flyers to their customers to promote upcoming screening events.

ACCCBuzz: Is CHI Memorial opening its doors for National Lung Cancer Screening Day (November 12)?

Wolf: Yes, we are partnering with our local YMCA to hold mobile screenings. We anticipate that we will screen 30 people (which is our max for a day). In addition, we will be setting up a booth to share local resources. We have also brought in other vendors, such as the Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancer and its Shine a Light on Lung Cancer awareness program, to share national resources with our community. And Genentech and Medical Inflatables have partnered with us to bring their education and the Mega Lungs exhibit.

CHI Memorial has set a goal of 300 scans in the month of November. I am confident we will surpass this number.

The ACCC Rural Lung Cancer Screening Initiative is supported by AstraZeneca and its partners, Cancer Support Community and LUNGevity Foundation.

More ACCC Lung Cancer Resources

• ACCC Commemorates World Lung Cancer Day—10 Years Strong
• [Mini-Podcast] Ep. 41: Lung Cancer Awareness Month
• Fostering Excellence in Care and Outcomes in Patients with Stage III/IV NSCLC: Quality Improvement Initiative Outcomes
• ACCC Model for Improving Care Coordination
• Lung Cancer Screening Tools Resource Library
• Optimizing Advanced NSCLC Biomarker Testing, Treatment, and Management Virtual Summit