Lung cancer kills more that 170,000 people in the United States each year, more than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined.

While new screening technologies are currently being tested, there is no good means of early detection for lung cancer.

Late detection means a majority of lung cancer patients are diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease.

Nearly 60% of people diagnosed with lung cancer die within one year of their diagnosis.

While smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer, a majority of those currently being diagnosed with lung cancer are former smokers or are people who never smoked.

People can develop lung cancer as much as 20 or more years after quitting smoking.

Many physicians, and most people, are unaware that former smokers are at such continued risk and frequently fail to consider it when looking at symptoms.

Lung cancer symptoms include a persistent cough, coughing up blood, changes in breathing, repeated bouts of pneumonia or bronchitis, chest or rib pain, fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite and weight loss. (Note: Pat Howell pointed out that Brian's initial trip to the doc was to have rib pain looked after. Several visits later they got around to the chest X-Ray. It's no small pain to think we may have lost Brian to the doc's failure to recognize rib pain in a former smoker as a warning sign.)

Despite having symptoms, many people delay seeing a doctor, thinking they are experiencing other problems or that what they have is not serious.

A person's risk of ever developing lung cancer decreases with smoking cessation.

In addition to smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, radon, asbestos and air pollution have been associated with lung cancer.

Although often perceived as a man's disease, lung disease is also extremely common in women.

For the past 20 years, there has been a steady and dramatic increase in lung cancer among women. During the same period, the incidence of lung cancer among men has declined.

While the need for lung cancer research is great, a lack of funding means few physicians enter the field.