To the editor:

It will be three years next month since my beloved husband of 48 years, Edwin R. Emerson, retired fire chief in Ipswich, succumbed to the deadliest cancer of all, lung cancer. I write now because November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, enacted into law by Gov. Patrick in February 2007.

More than 215,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the U.S. in 2008, and the majority will die in less than a year. While new numbers continue to show a decline in lung cancer mortality rates among men, the mortality rate for women is still going up.

Last spring Congress approved (and Bush signed) a bill for a new, $20-million lung cancer research program at the Department of Defense. The legislation specifically notes that lung cancer is the most lethal of all cancers, taking more lives each year than all other major cancers combined; and that military personnel have heightened exposure to lung cancer carcinogens. The bill, sponsored by Rear Admiral Phil Coady, USN (Ret.), who himself recently passed away due to lung cancer, requires the Army to provide a plan for how the $20 million will be spent.

The push for early detection, the prime factor for 5-year survival rate, is beginning to grow. This past summer three major TV networks combined in a production to promote lung cancer awareness. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) are cosponsoring S. 3187, the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act. Both senators are putting forth efforts to make the fight against lung cancer a national health priority.

I urge readers to contact U.S. legislators and ask them to add their support to S. 3187. Go to lungcanceralliance.org for more information regarding this devastating disease, and to advocate for non-smoking and early detection for those at risk.

Jean Emerson

Ipswich