U-M Cancer Center hosts online chat to answer questions about lung cancer

The University of Michigan wants to make sure everyone has the facts about lung cancer, a disease that kills more people each year than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.

On Feb. 16, U-M’s Comprehensive Cancer Center will host an online chat with Gregory Kalemkerian, M.D., director of the U-M Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Clinic, to answer questions about the disease.

“Lung cancer is the biggest cancer-related health problem in the United States right now,” Kalemkerian says. “This event will allow participants to ask important questions related to the disease’s causes, symptoms and prevention.”

The online chat is at 12 p.m. on Feb. 16. Participants can register online at mcancer.org/chat.

While smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, Kalemkerian says 10 percent of those who have the disease have never smoked. Second-hand smoke and occupational hazards such as asbestos exposure can also lead to lung cancer.

Former Wolverine football player and Ann Arbor policeman Vada Murray was one of the 10 percent. His wife, Sarah Murray, started the Vada Murray Fund for Cancer Research at U-M shortly after he died in 2011. The fund has raised more than $70,000 for research aimed at exploring early detection and the causes of various types of lung cancer – with an emphasis on environmental issues and cancer treatments.

Because many of the indicators for lung cancer are also common ailments for smokers, it can be hard to diagnose the disease, Kalemkerian says. Oftentimes, lung cancer is caught in the later stages because patients do not report symptoms earlier.

“Screens like CT scans can help detect early signs of cancer in those at high risk,” he says. “When we can catch it earlier, there’s a much better chance of treating the disease.”

Event Information:
Time: 12 p.m.
Date: Thursday, Feb. 16
Location: Online, mcancer.org/chat

Resources:
U-M Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125
U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, www.mcancer.org/lung

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