Jan 12, 2008

Cancer crusader honored

Lung cancer survivor wins Jefferson Award for creating foundation

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

Lung cancer survivor and San Carlos resident Bonnie Addario has been honored for her efforts to combat the deadly disease.

She recently received a local Jefferson Award for creating the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, which has raised more than $2 million in the past two years for cancer research. That honor puts her in the running to win one of the five national Jefferson Awards in June. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis established the award in 1972.

Addario is now trying to get at least 1 million people to donate $20 for the cause.

She knows firsthand how lung cancer can affect a person. She was diagnosed with it in 2003, and after chemotherapy, radiation treatment and major surgery, she is now cancer-free.

"The tumor I had was invading my heart, so the surgery was very extensive," Addario said.

Surgeons had to remove the entire upper left lobe of one of her lungs. The tumor also reached two major arteries and invaded her esophagus.

Addario's efforts have included partnering with Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City to start a screening program this month that is designed to detect lung cancer early and improve patients' chances of survival. Only about 15 percent of all people who have lung cancer survive longer than five years, but that rate increases the earlier the cancer is detected, she said.

Sequoia's screening program is part of Cornell University's International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP), which is studying the effectiveness of early detection at hospitals in the United States and Europe.

An estimated 450 people die each day in the United States from lung cancer, Addario said. And the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be more than 213,300 new cases of lung cancer this year, and that it will kill more than 160,000 Americans in 2008.

Lung cancer kills more people than prostate, colon, breast and cervical cancer combined, Addario said.

"The reason it kills so many people is there was no early detection for lung cancer," Addario said.

Sequoia is addressing that issue by using CT scans to screen people ages 40 to 80 who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lives and/or have been exposed to secondhand smoke, said Kate Tully, the program's coordinator. The goal is to catch the cancer in its first stage.

"Generally, the older you get and the more you smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoke, your risk increases," Tully said.

Robert Schmitt, 47, of Kensington, became the first person to be screened at Sequoia on Wednesday. He said he decided to get screened because his late father, Arnold Schmitt, smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years, which exposed him to secondhand smoke.

"It is a simple test that takes about 20 minutes. It just makes so much sense," said Schmitt, who is involved with Addario's foundation.

Schmitt said that although insurance doesn't cover the screening cost, the $399 he paid for the process was worth it. He said he was advised to get screened at least once a year and that he should have his results back within a week.

For more information about lung cancer or to contribute to Addario's foundation, visit www.thelungcancerfoundation.org or call 415-357-1278.



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.