Lung Cancer Awareness Month

November was a very exciting and busy time at EGFR+UK Headquarters as we threw ourselves heart and soul into Lung Cancer Awareness Month. You may have seen our two campaigns 'All You Need is Lungs' and 'See Through the Symptoms'. We were honoured to work with ALK+UK and Ruth Strauss Foundation on both projects and we plan to continue this collaboration in the future. We are thrilled that both projects have roused international interest and support: Charity Lung Cancer Europe is keen to endorse 'All you Need is Lungs' and 'See Through the Symptoms' was featured in the US publication Medical News Today.

All You Need is Lungs

All You Need is Lungs is a dynamic public facing campaign that features many of our EGFR+UK members. The message is clear and hard hitting: All you need is lungs to get lung cancer. The campaign comprises of photos of lung cancer patients, their age and their main initial symptoms. All the patients we included were either non-smokers or never smokers. When planning and designing All You Need is Lungs, we felt it was of paramount importance that we destigmatise lung cancer. We wanted to emphasise that lung cancer can affect anyone, irrespective of age, ethnicity or smoking status.

We also wanted to tackle misinformation surrounding the symptoms of lung cancer. These can often be subtle and not always obvious. By raising awareness of some of the more unusual symptoms, the hope is that more patients with lung cancer receive an earlier diagnosis.

The campaign was posted widely on Instagram and Facebook and we had many visitors to our webpage allyouneedislungs.org.uk

See Through the Symptoms campaign

See Through The Symptoms is primarily aimed at medical professionals in primary care: community pharmacists, community physiotherapists, GPs and practice nurses. It is a national advertising campaign and has been featured in seven medical publications including GP Online, GP Notebook & Pharmacy Notebook, Chemist and Druggist (an online magazine for pharmacists) and Practice Nurse. The advertisement sign posts professionals to our website See Through the Symptoms where they can find resources to support them.

See Through the Symptoms is a highly credible campaign and was developed in collaboration with leading respiratory physicians and oncologists and is backed by the British Thoracic Oncology Group, Asthma + Lung UK, the Taskforce for Lung Health, Macmillan Cancer Support, Gateway C and the Primary Care Respiratory Society.

The campaign again focuses on non-smoking lung cancer and early diagnosis. It highlights some of the persistent symptoms that patients may suffer and poses questions to prompt the medic to take action. Again the campaign challenges the usual stereotypes of lung cancer patients and clearly indicates that lung cancer can affect anyone regardless of age, ethnicity or smoking status. It features photographs by renowned British photographer Rankin, whose mother died from lung cancer in 2005.

We are very proud of both campaigns and how well they have been received by the general public and health care professionals. We are certain that they will have had an impact on raising awareness of lung cancer and its symptoms, early diagnosis, challenging stereotypical profiles and ultimately improving outcomes for patients.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in both these campaigns, allowed us to use their photos and who shared them on social media. Without you, these campaigns would not have happened and would not have impacted on so many people. Thank you.

By Natasha Loveridge, Marketing Trustee