[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 617 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 617

 Designating November 2006 as ``National Lung Cancer Awareness Month''.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 16, 2006

Mr. Chambliss submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

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                               RESOLUTION



 Designating November 2006 as ``National Lung Cancer Awareness Month''.

Whereas lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of both men and women, 
        accounting for nearly 1 in every 3 cancer deaths in the United States;
Whereas lung cancer claims the lives of more people each year than breast, 
        prostate, colon, liver, and kidney cancers combined;
Whereas the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the 
        National Cancer Institute estimates that, in 2006, 174,470 new lung 
        cancer cases will be diagnosed and 162,460 individuals will die of lung 
        cancer in the United States;
Whereas both incidence and mortality rates for lung cancer are significantly 
        higher in black males than in the general population of the United 
        States;
Whereas smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths in the United States;
Whereas the best way to decrease the number of diagnoses and deaths per year 
        from lung cancer is to encourage people in the United States to quit 
        smoking;
Whereas a former smoker's risk of lung cancer does not decrease significantly 
        until 20 years after the individual quit smoking;
Whereas the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program has demonstrated in a 
        14-year study with 31,567 participants that computer tomography scans 
        can detect lung cancer in Stage I when the cancer can be more easily 
        treated and cured, giving individuals who are diagnosed early a 10-year 
        survival rate of 88 percent;
Whereas there is a need to increase public awareness of statistics, risk 
        factors, and the importance of early diagnosis;
Whereas individuals with cancers that are routinely diagnosed at early stages 
        through screening, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer, have high 
        survival rates of 88 percent and 99 percent, respectively;
Whereas the 5-year survival rate for lung cancer in the United States is still 
        only 15 percent, a rate virtually unchanged since the enactment of the 
        National Cancer Act of 1971; and
Whereas designating November 2006 as ``National Lung Cancer Awareness Month'', 
        as proposed by the Lung Cancer Alliance and the Lung Cancer Alliance of 
        Georgia, will increase public awareness about lung cancer and the need 
        for lung cancer research and early detection: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates November 2006 as ``National Lung Cancer 
        Awareness Month''; and
            (2) reaffirms the Senate's commitment to--
                    (A) advancing lung cancer research and early 
                detection, and particularly the Lung Cancer Alliance of 
                Georgia's goal of significantly increasing the 5-year 
                survival rate of individuals diagnosed with lung cancer 
                in the United States to 50 percent within 10 years; and
                    (B) working with all Federal agencies involved in 
                cancer research to develop a coordinated roadmap for 
                accomplishing that goal.
                                 <all>