World Lung Cancer Day is observed on Aug. 1 to raise public awareness about the causes and treatment of the disease, which claims hundreds of lives around the world every year.

The American Cancer Society's statistical data shows about 235,760 people were diagnosed with the disease so far in 2021, with an estimated 131,880 deaths. While smoking is understood to be the leading cause of lung cancer, other lesser-known risk factors include the environment and genetics. Exposure to harmful environmental substances such as radon, asbestos, arsenic, beryllium and uranium can also lead to lung cancer.

Scientists have for ages been struggling to gain a breakthrough in the study and treatment of lung cancer, but the disease still ranks among the lowest as far as the chance of survival is concerned. The key symptoms of the disease include muscle weakness, nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, seizures and coma.

The objective of observing the day every year is to raise funding to aid worldwide lung cancer research.

Here are some inspiring quotes about the disease, courtesy MD Anderson Cancer Center's official website and AZ quotes.

  • "Cancer is just a chapter in our lives and not the whole story."- Allie Moreno
  • "Every day you wake up is another opportunity to be a blessing to someone else."- Jacqueline Wallace
  • "Today is enough."- Josh Taylor
  • "Giving in to the darkness offers no benefit."- Marivel Preciado
  • "Cancer is a part of our life, but it’s not our whole life."- Nick Prochak
  • "When cancer happens, you don’t put life on hold. You live now."- Fabi Powell
  • "Now I'm being blamed not only for anorexia but for lung cancer."- Kate Moss
  • "If we smoke, there's no magic number of cigarettes, or number of years, that we can smoke before we know we'll get lung cancer."- Katharine Hayhoe
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Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer Pixabay
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