GO2 for Lung Cancer hails bipartisan effort to accelerate progress to increase survivorship

April 10, 2019 – Today the GO2 for Lung Cancer praises Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) for elevating national attention to a women’s public health imperative by re-introducing the 2018 Senate and House bills (S. 2358 and H.R. 4897) as the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2019. This bi-partisan and bicameral legislation brings priority focus to accelerating research and screening services for women impacted by lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women and men in both the U.S. and around the world. It takes the lives of more women than breast, ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancers combined. An average of 181 women die each day from lung cancer, one every 8 minutes, and two-thirds of never smokers diagnosed with lung cancer are women.

“Lung cancer is a public health imperative for women and there is no stronger signal of support to improving health outcomes than the legislative action taken today by these Congressional leaders”, said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, Co-Founder, President and CEO of GO2 for Lung Cancer (formerly of Lung Cancer Alliance).  “We lose too many women to this disease, which is why we need to move rapidly to reverse this deadly trend by ensuring access to life-saving early detection and increasing research.”

“Despite the significant impact of lung cancer on women in Florida and across the country, there is a lack of research on this terrible disease and its disproportionate effect on women, particularly those who are non-smokers,” Senator Rubio said. “This bill is a positive step in the battle against lung cancer, and will encourage additional research to develop better prevention and treatment tools.”

“Today more women than men live with lung cancer. In 2019, an estimated 66,000 women will lose their lives to this terrible disease. Despite the effect it has on women’s lives across the country, there’s still much we don’t know,” Senator Feinstein said. “For instance, we don’t know why women who have never smoked have been shown to be twice as likely to get lung cancer as non-smoking men. This bill will provide much-needed support for research focused on understanding this disparity and promote preventive screening for women.”

“Though the medical community has made incredible strides preventing and treating lung cancer over the past decades, women are being left behind,” Rep. Boyle said. “Every eight minutes, one American woman dies of lung cancer, 181 each day, and their lung cancer rates are falling at half the rate of men’s. This bill is an important step toward ensuring Americans of all genders can be spared the devastation of this disease.”

“With some studies showing women are more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than men, more research and resources must be directed to better understand this disease and mitigate this alarming statistic, especially among non-smokers,” Rep. Fitzpatrick said. “I am proud to support this bipartisan, bicameral legislation and to stand with those affected by this disease to promote enhanced prevention and treatment.”

The legislation is an urgent call to action to address research gaps and access to life-saving preventive services, and raise national awareness to increase survival for women and the entire lung cancer community. GO2 for Lung Cancer calls on advocates across the country to #SaveHerLungs, urging Members of Congress to support the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act, and by  sending an email message to Congress now!

GO2 for Lung Cancer will host a Congressional Briefing with the newly re-established Congressional Lung Cancer Caucus on July 23, 2019 during its National Advocacy Summit, to educate the new Congress and bring heightened understanding, focus and support to pass the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2019.

For more details about this legislation, please visit the Save Her Lungs webpage or contact GO2 for Lung Cancer at policy@go2.org.

GO2 for Lung Cancer transforms survivorship as the world’s leading organization dedicated to saving, extending, and improving the lives of those vulnerable, at risk, and diagnosed with lung cancer.