LUNGevity Foundation

Andrea Stern Ferris is president of the LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s largest lung cancer-focused nonprofit. LUNGevity provides information, resources and a community to those impacted by lung cancer, and funds research for its early detection and treatment. Ferris became involved with the fight against lung cancer shortly after her mother passed away from the disease.

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More than 260,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year. Because there is no widely-available, effective early diagnostic test for lung cancer, only 15% of people will be diagnosed in the earliest stage, when the disease is most treatable; and only 16% will survive five years or more. However, if lung cancer is caught early, the chances of survival dramatically increase.  Ferris advocates getting an annual physical and speaking with your doctor about screening if you are having symptoms or feel you are at risk for lung cancer.