Residents in Nashville are joining the LUNG FORCE WALK to do their part in the ongoing fight against lung cancer.

More than 105,000 American women will receive a lung cancer diagnosis in 2015, and almost 72,000 of them will die within a year of their diagnosis. However, only a small number of women are aware of how lung cancer is a major risk for them.

“Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of women in America, but alarmingly few women see lung cancer as a threat to them. What few people know is that lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as a cause of women’s death in 1987,” said Gail Bost who is the Senior Director of Development and Special Projects for the American Lung Association in Tennessee, Nashville.

According to data from the Lung Association’s first Women’s Lung Health Barometer, which is a survey that enrolled more than 1,000 American women, the current awareness regarding the impact of this disease in women is very low. Despite the fact lung cancer is a top cancer killer of women, and has been for a long time, the assessment showed that only about 1 percent of women were aware that the disease had such an impact. Anyone can develop lung cancer — about 66 percent of lung cancer cases occur in people who have never smoked or that have quit smoking.

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The American Lung Association in Nashville will host the first LUNG FORCE Walk on May 16 in order to support the initiative for lung health and against lung cancer. LUNG FORCE represents an effort to bring lung cancer, particularly in women, to the top of public health priorities, to facilitate policy change and support and increase research in the field.

“This has to change. This walk is an opportunity to rally our families, friends, neighbors and colleagues to raise our voices against lung cancer — and for lung health for everyone,” said Bost in a press release.

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is an important sponsor of the LUNG FORCE Walk; it will begin and end at Public Square Park and will follow a scenic course through Nashville, crossing the Cumberland River twice.