BUFFALO, N.Y. — According to a new study by the American Lung Association, New York is tied for the best five-year survival rate for lung cancer.
2 On Your Side spoke to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center about the study's findings.
They say access to care and diagnosing the disease at an earlier stage contribute to the good survival rates. They also believe a decrease in smoking helps.
"Thankfully the treatments are increasing in terms of options and availability, so treatments largely hinge on three different approaches, and oftentimes combined approaches," said Mark Hennon, a thoracic surgeon at Roswell Park.
"But things like surgery, to surgically remove a lung tumor. Things like what I call systemic therapies, which include things like chemo-therapies, and then some of your newer, targeted therapies and imunotherapies, and then also, radiation treatment is frequently part of a treatment plan."
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women.
This study comes during National Lung Cancer Awareness Month.