Lung cancer still biggest cancer killer, but death rates are improving, report finds
CBC
MaryAnn Bradley was bracing herself for a heart disease diagnosis when her cardiologist told her an X-ray showed a shadow on her right lung.
"I just thought I was going to die. That was it," she said.
Bradley, now 68, had been pushing doctors to find out what was behind an unrelenting pain in the left side of her neck.
The St. Catharines, Ont., woman was "completely devastated" to learn she had Stage 1 lung cancer, especially because her father had died of the disease years before.
A few weeks later, a thoracic surgeon removed the tumour.
"Everything went fantastically well," Bradley said.
She's been cancer-free for 10 years now, and goes back for CT scans to make sure it's caught early if it ever returns.
"I had a great recovery and I've never looked back," said Bradley, who now advocates for early detection of lung cancer and volunteers with Lung Cancer Canada as a peer mentor for others who get the diagnosis.
An annual report on cancer statistics released Wednesday says more people with lung cancer are surviving like Bradley.
Lung cancer death rates are declining faster than any other type of cancer in this country, according to Canadian Cancer Statistics 2023, which is compiled by the Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee, along with the Canadian Cancer Society, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Lung cancer death rates have decreased by 4.3 per cent per year since 2014 for males and 4.1 per cent per year since 2016 for females, the report says.
"To me, this finding really highlights the progress that has been made in reducing lung cancer incidence through commercial tobacco control," said Jennifer Gillis, an epidemiologist in Vancouver and senior manager of surveillance at the Canadian Cancer Society.
According to the cancer society, smoking tobacco is a factor in about 72 per cent of lung cancer deaths.
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