The truth about lung cancer and the people who get it
BY Anne coscarelli
The death last month of Dana Reeve, actor Christ-opher Reeve's widow, has once again focused public attention on the disease that claimed her — lung cancer.
It is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the United States, causing more deaths than cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, melanoma, liver and kidney combined.
Reeve's death has challenged stereotypes of who gets lung cancer — and I hope to challenge a few more.
Notoriously known as the disease of smokers, lung cancer carries a social stigma that is pervasive among patients, family, friends and health-care providers. But Reeve did not smoke. A little known fact: 15% of those diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked, and 50% or more quit prior to their diagnosis.
Given lung cancer's devastating impact, one might assume that it is one of the most researched diseases. Another little known fact: Lung cancer receives significantly less funding than other cancers.
The Department of Defense provided $1.66 billion for breast cancer from 1992 to 2004, $150 million for prostate cancer from 1997 to 2004 and only $33 million for lung cancer from 1999 to 2004.
Change can only happen if we remember the credo of the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center: “The end of cancer begins with research.”
Many assume that lung cancer is a “self-inflicted” disease because of its relationship to smoking. As a result, the first question a newly diagnosed patient often hears is, “Did you smoke?” (That's like asking people with cardiac disease or diabetes: “Did you eat too many cupcakes and lead a sedentary life?”)
The question distances us emotionally from patients, leaving them feeling unsupported in the midst of a trauma. Because most patients are diagnosed in later stages, they often face legitimate concerns about both the quality and quantity of their lives. Rather than offering unconditional sup-port and empathy, we hand them blame and stigmatization.
As a psychologist working with people who have lung cancer, I have learned that this disease is so devastating and life-altering that both patients and their caregivers need support, compassion and a commitment from us that we will promote their causes while fighting this disease.
Breast cancer survival has advanced because a large number of politically active survivors act as advocates and many researchers receive grants.
In contrast, lung cancer has a limited number of long-term survivors to foster such a strong advocacy constituency.
Despite the disappointing statistics of this severely limiting disease, some people cope well with lung cancer, thanks partly to the Ann and John Nickoll Lung Cancer Support Group, which meets once a week at the Ted Mann Family Resource Center, part of the Jonsson Cancer Center. Besides sharing ideas and information, participants reach out to each other, laugh and explore ways to lead meaningful lives.
With the public and notable loss of Dana Reeve, let us be reminded that all kinds of people are diagnosed with lung cancer — famous and not so famous, smokers and nonsmokers, men and women. They all deserve our best efforts, beginning with our compassion.
Coscarelli is the founding director of the Ted Mann Family Resource Center and principal in the Wallis Annenberg Director's Initiative in Psychosocial Oncology at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center.
