EDGEWOOD, Ky. — November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. One Kentucky doctor says lung cancer patients historically haven’t received as good of treatment as other cancer patients.

But he and his team at the St. Elizabeth Cancer Center are using the latest technology to give their patients the level of care they deserve.

There’s a reason Dr. Royce Calhoun felt drawn to work where he does in northern Kentucky.

“This whole sort of area around here is kind of the smoking capital of the country. And because of that, it’s also the lung cancer capital of the country. So what brought me here eight years ago was just that, because that’s my area of expertise, and I felt like it was a place where I could make a big difference by trying to help these people,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun is the Medical Director of Thoracic Surgery at the St. Elizabeth Cancer Center. He said lung cancer kills more men and women than the next five cancers combined. And there’s a reason it’s so lethal.

“Often by the time people find out they have lung cancer, they’re already in the process of dying, because it’s spread,” Calhoun said.

That’s why he wants to use Lung Cancer Awareness Month to tell people to get screened.

People 50 and over and are current or former smokers will probably meet the criteria, Calhoun said. But he said less than 10% of those people around the country get screened.

“The reality is we’re still missing so many patients,” he said.

Calhoun said lung cancer treatment has been behind other cancers like breast cancer. And he thinks that’s partly because more than 80% of lung cancer is caused by smoking.

“There’s a stigma that, well, you brought it on yourself. So how bad am I going to feel for you? Well, the problem with that is smoking is kind of a disease unto itself. And a lot of people grew up with smoking just like they grew up being catholic,” Calhoun said. “These people deserve better. And so I want to give them better.”

That’s something he’s been able to do at the cancer center, using the latest in robotics to perform more precise surgeries than ever before.

“Challenging patients, to me, are interesting and I want to help them,” Calhoun said.

He said what people need to do to break the cycle is quit smoking immediately, both for themselves and as an example for the next generation.

Calhoun said even the subset of non-smoking lung cancer is still the seventh leading cause of all cancer-related deaths in the country, killing 20,000 to 40,000 patients a year. He said anyone with any lung concerns should sign up to get screened.