Late Lung Cancer Diagnoses Lead to Higher Death Toll 

Late Lung Cancer Diagnoses Lead to Higher Death Toll. Credit | The Health Site
Late Lung Cancer Diagnoses Lead to Higher Death Toll. Credit | The Health Site

United States: Lung cancer is really the deadliest cancer in Florida, according to the 2024 American Lung Association report. It also shows that only 25% of people with lung cancer in Florida are diagnosed early, which makes it harder to treat and lowers their chances of surviving for five years. 

Sherrie Smyth had a several months premonition that something evil was going to happen to her. She for several months, she complaint of shortness of breath. 

This she proceeded to an allergist after her cardiologist prior to examining her, did not pick out anything amiss with her heart. ‘I was 57, and the allergist told me I had adult-onset asthma,’ said Smyth, a Miami mother of a teenager. 

While she agreed to take an inhaler, she also insisted on getting her chest X-ray done. When all the tests were completed and revealed an abnormality in her right lung the allergist prescribed antibiotics. 

As reported by Sun Sentinel, already a little short of breath, she went to a pulmonologist and using a CT scan, she was told that the abnormality was a large mass. An immediate full body PET scanning revealed that she has stage IV non-operable lung carcinoma with adrenal glands and brain metastases. 

“In the case of lung cancer, sometimes the symptoms are simply like flu or a cold.” Ashley Lyerly, Senior Advocacy Director at the American Lung Association. “That is why you need to have more tests, for it to be diagnosed early.” 

Miami oncologist Dr. Estelamari Rodriguez says several factors contribute to Florida’s lung cancer toll: The population is older, many of them had no previous screening, and many people come from other countries where smoking is more common.  

A lung cancer diagnosis begins with an imaging test known as low-dose CT to examine the lungs. According to the report only fifteen percent of at-risk people are able to get screened in Florida.  

The five-year survival rate of lung cancer in case of early diagnosis is 64% as compared to 9% in case of advanced stage lung cancer – US NIH. This early stage most often is treated with surgery which is to remove the cancer in the lung with the potential for spread. 

Tobacco smoking is really among the leading causes of lung cancer that is well understood. While 11% of Florida’s adults continue to smoke which is marginally below the national average, there has been rising trends in vaping particularly among headlights in the past few years as per Tobacco Free Florida.