Annual report finds WV ranks near bottom in new lung cancer cases

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is among the worst states in the nation when it comes to new lung cancer cases and high smoking rates, according to a new report.

Molly Pisciottano

The American Lung Association’s State of Lung Cancer 2021 report finds the Mountain State ranks 50th out of 51 including the District of Columbia.

MORE West Virginia’s findings

The report finds that Utah has the nation’s best lung cancer rate while Kentucky has the worst. Over the last five years, the rate of new cases decreased 10 percent nationally.

For every 100,000 people, West Virginia reports more than 79 new cases were reported. The national average is 57 per 100,000.

West Virginia is 40th in the nation for survival rate and 18th in the nation for early diagnosis.

Molly Pisciottano, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania region, said more people should get checked so they can prevent further sickness or death.

“Early detection has the potential to save more lives because if lung cancer is caught early and before it spreads, the likelihood of surviving five years or more actually improves to 60 percent,” she said.

This is the fourth year the report was released. The rest of the country is seeing better numbers over the years compared to the Mountain State.

“Nationwide there’s been an improvement in early diagnosis, which is really great, but West Virginia could use some improvement,” Pisciottano said.

While the disease remains the leading cause of cancer deaths among both women and men, over the past five years, the survival rate has increased by 14.5 percent nationally to 23.7 percent yet remains significantly lower among communities of color at 20 percent and Black Americans at 18 percent.

No racial disparities were found in West Virginia for lung cancer metrics.

Pisciottano said smoking is one of the leading causes of lung cancer and that there are ways to prevent that.

“We can reduce tobacco use and to help with that is to increase tobacco taxes, but also in order to prevent more lung cancer deaths, we can help smokers quit,” she said.

To view the full report, CLICK HERE.





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