III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 617 

Designating November 2006 as ‘‘National Lung Cancer Awareness Month’’. 

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 

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; 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
2 

•SRES 617 IS 

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 GeorVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:45 Nov 20, 2006 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR617.IS SR617

jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
3 

•SRES 617 IS 

gia, will increase public awareness about lung cancer and 

the need for lung cancer research and early detection: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates November 2006 as ‘‘National 

3 Lung Cancer Awareness Month’’; and 

4 (2) reaffirms the Senate’s commitment to— 

5 (A) advancing lung cancer research and 

6 early detection, and particularly the Lung Can7 cer Alliance of Georgia’s goal of significantly in8 creasing the 5-year survival rate of individuals 

9 diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States 

10 to 50 percent within 10 years; and 

11 (B) working with all Federal agencies in12 volved in cancer research to develop a coordi13 nated roadmap for accomplishing that goal. 

Æ 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS