November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and there are some facts I would like everyone to know.

nLung cancer kills more people annually than brain, breast, colon, melanoma and prostate cancer combined.

nLung cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, behind only heart disease.

nLung cancer in people who have never smoked is the sixth largest killer in the United States.

nFifty percent more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer annually.

nEach year, 175,000 new lung cancer cases are diagnosed.

nUnlike breast, colon and prostate cancer, there is no diagnostic screening test for lung cancer.

nDespite the high mortality, lung cancer receives the least amount of funding for research. Dollars for prostate cancer and breast cancer outstrip funding for lung cancer by as much as 10 to 1.

The Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation's Lung Cancer Awareness Task Force and the University of Wisconsin Carbon Cancer Center are partnering in an effort to raise awareness of lung cancer, remove the stigmas and increase funding for much-needed research in prevention, early detection and treatment. This effort will benefit us locally as well as in our state and country. As a lung cancer survivor, I am excited and proud to be a part of this partnership.

Lung cancer must be stopped, and it will take involvement and effort from all of us to make a difference.