Lung Cancer Advocates in the News

Each year, the Partnership hosts an Advocacy Summit - a two-day conference where lung cancer advocates gather to learn about how to raise awareness in their communities, how to engage the media and other grassroots advocacy strategies.

Congratulations to Kathryn Joosten and Montessa Lee, two Advocacy Summit alumni, for using the skills they learned at the Summit to get national press coverage for their stories.


Kathryn Joosten, two-time Emmy winner for her role as Mrs. McCluskey on ABC's Desperate Housewives, recently found out she once again has lung cancer. After eight years cancer-free, she was surprised by this new diagnosis.

Instead of just taking the news, though, Ms. Joosten took it on. To try to combat the stigma associated with the disease, she has told her story to People Magazine and E! Online, where she was profiled on Ted Casablanca's blog, The Awful Truth.

Kathryn Joosten


Montessa Lee was only 28 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. It took several visits to her doctors to get them to realize what she had. They never considered a young woman who had never smoked could possibly have this disease. She tells her story for all to know in the October issue of SELF, as well as on the SELF Magazine website.

Our deepest thanks to Ms. Joosten and Ms. Lee for sharing their stories so broadly to raise awareness of this disease!

Montessa Lee