2025 -- H 6303

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING THE SECOND WEEK IN MAY OF 2025 TO BE “LUNG CANCER ACTION

WEEK” IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Azzinaro, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Kennedy,
Chippendale, Costantino, Lima, Corvese, Finkelman, and Bennett

     Date Introduced: May 06, 2025

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, The American Lung Association’s LUNG FORCE initiative has been

working to ensure that fewer people are diagnosed with lung cancer and those living with the

disease live longer since 2014; and

     WHEREAS, Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among individuals

in the United States, accounting for more deaths than colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate

cancer combined; and

     WHEREAS, Lung cancer screening saves lives, and advocacy and increased awareness

will result in more high-risk individuals getting screened; and

     WHEREAS, One in 16 men and one in 17 women in the United States will develop lung

cancer during their lifetimes, and approximately 70 percent of adults are not familiar with lung

cancer screening and the low-dose computed tomography scan; and

     WHEREAS, The rate of lung cancer death in women in the United States has increased

by 92 percent over the 50-year span from 1971 to 2021, and each year, more women die from

lung cancer than from breast cancer and ovarian cancer combined; and

     WHEREAS, Eighteen percent of lung cancers are unrelated to smoking, and the

proportion of lung cancers diagnosed in individuals who have never smoked is increasing in the

United States. The 5-year survival rate for localized lung cancer is 63 percent, yet a majority of

lung cancers are diagnosed at a distant stage, for which the 5-year survival rate is 8 percent, and

     WHEREAS, Screening with low-dose computed tomography can detect lung cancer in its

earliest stages and ultimately save lives, yet only 3 to 7 percent of individuals in the United States

at high risk for lung cancer undergo lung cancer screening; and

     WHEREAS, Veterans are 25 percent more likely to develop lung cancer compared to the

general public, and, although approximately 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 veterans have an elevated

risk of lung cancer and are eligible for screening, less than 3 percent of veterans get screened; and

     WHEREAS, Black men have the highest incidence of lung cancer and the highest

mortality rate from lung cancer in the United States, and non-White individuals are 14 to 17

percent less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer early; and

     WHEREAS, Lung cancer research is leading to breakthroughs in biomarker identification

and the development of immunotherapies and targeted therapies that are highly effective for some

cancer subtypes, yet accessing cutting-edge testing as part of the lung cancer diagnostic process

can be difficult. Public support for research funding will result in new treatments and better

methods of early detection; and

     WHEREAS, LUNG FORCE is a national initiative led by the American Lung

Association, to defeat lung cancer; and

     WHEREAS, Educational efforts can increase awareness of lung cancer and lung cancer

screening among the general public, patients and their families, and health care workers, thereby

increasing the early detection of lung cancer; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

designates the second week in May as Lung Cancer Action Week throughout Rhode Island in

order to promote efforts to increase awareness of lung cancer education, and research on

mitigation of risk factors, lung cancer screening, treatment of lung cancer, and lung cancer issues

affecting minorities and individuals who have never smoked. This House also encourages the

people of Rhode Island to observe Lung Cancer Action Week with appreciation and awareness of

educational activities to learn more about lung cancer, its risk factors, and early detection and the

best ways to take preemptive action; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the American Lung Association.

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