• Nearly half of Canadians are expected to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives and 1 in 4 Canadians is expected to die of it.
• Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women; about 1 out of 4 cancer deaths are from lung cancer.
• Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
• Lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. About 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older, while less than 2% are younger than 45. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 70.
• A variety of management approaches including surgery, radiation and systemic therapies may be used in lung cancer, depending on stage at diagnosis and patient health. Both the disease and treatment can lead to symptoms with profound effects on patients’ physical, social and emotional functioning.
• Over the last few decades, there has been only a gradual and very modest improvement in lung cancer survival, which remains low, with only 14.1% and 5% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer surviving 5 and 10 years, respectively.
• The goal of Dr. Yasufuku’s research is to develop new techniques to diagnose and treat lung cancer at its earliest stages, when patients are most likely to be cured.

Joyous Life Music Foundation is committed to raise fund for Dr. Yasufuku’s research team. The funds raised will support equipment-related costs for up to 20 robotic surgeries for lung cancer (these equipment costs are not currently covered by the government). This will assist Dr. Yasufuku as he studies the benefits of robotic surgery for lung cancer patients.