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Lung cancer treatment and research at Dana-Farber

While lung cancer will make up only 15 percent of the cases of cancer that are expected to be diagnosed in 2007, it will account for nearly 30 percent of all cancer-related deaths. Incidence and mortality rates, however, are now decreasing in men and stabilizing in women, a fact that can be attributed to decreased smoking rates over the past 30 years, according to the American Cancer Society.

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Quick Facts

An estimated 213,000 new cases of lung cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2007.

Nearly 160,000 people are estimated to die from the disease this year.

The 5-year survival rate for all stages of lung cancer is 16 percent.

The 5-year survival rate for lung cancer patients when the disease is discovered in its earliest stages is 49 percent. Unfortunately, only 16 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at these stages.

(Source: The American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts and Figures 2007)

Video  (8:14)

Dr. Bruce Johnson talks to Katie Couric of the Today Show about lung cancer treatment, prevention and screening. (Aug. 9, 2005)

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