What’s the number one type of cancer treated in Macomb County?

It’s lung cancer, which remains the top cancer killer in the United States and worldwide.

There is some good news, however. Federal officials report that lung cancer rates continue to drop nationwide, thanks to continuing anti-smoking efforts.

Oncologists at McLaren Macomb and the Ted B. Wahby Cancer Center have noticed similar results.

The cancer team, based in Mount Clemens, diagnosed and treated 72 cases of Stage IV lung cancer (the most advanced stage) in 2010, but those numbers dropped to 39 cases in 2012 (the year for which complete data is available). The numbers also show that patients with all stages of lung cancer have dropped each year, as well.

Despite the good news, there is still more work to do.

“We are seeing some progress county-wide,” said Pat Keigher, director of Cancer Services at McLaren Macomb. “Unfortunately, the rates for women remain higher and we are still seeing more women continuing to smoke.”

Cancer and other lung diseases are still killing more than 480,000 Americans each year. And the American Lung Association is urging lawmakers to do more to protect teens from the dangers of attractive marketing campaigns and new products that continue to get young people hooked on smoking.

Getting help:

McLaren Macomb offers ongoing help for those who want to quit. Smoking cessation classes are taught by certified instructors trained by the American Lung Association.

In addition, the McLaren cancer team is proud of its free lung cancer screening program, launched a year ago to help save lives through early detection. In the past year, the program provided an initial CT screening for 296 participants.

For more information on smoking cessation programs at McLaren Macomb, please call (586) 493-7510.

History Note:

It was 50 years ago that the first Surgeon General’s report appeared, linking smoking to lung cancer and other lung diseases. In recent years (2005 to 2009), incidence rates of lung cancer have declined nearly 3 percent per year among men and about 1 percent per year among women.