Lung Cancer Doesn’t Just Target Smokers

	Tweet

Most lung cancers occur in smokers, but nonsmoker Dana Reeve’s situation isn’t as uncommon as it appears.

Like Reeve, widow of “Superman” star Christopher Reeve, 1 in 5 women diagnosed with the disease never lit a cigarette, doctors say. Yet they share an unfortunate stigma with cancer patients who smoked.

“The underlying assumption is, you were a smoker and you caused this, therefore you’re not going to get my sympathy,” said Tom Labrecque Jr., who started a foundation to raise awareness after his nonsmoker father died several years ago of the disease.

No one “deserves” lung cancer, doctors say. But nonsmokers do have one silver lining: They respond better to the newest targeted cancer drugs like Iressa and Tarceva.

That’s because people who get lung cancer early in life, like the 44-year-old Reeve, are more likely to have genetic factors fueling their disease, doctors say. Only 3 percent of lung cancers occur in people under 45, regardless of smoking status.

Reeve, an actress who leads a paralysis research foundation named for her husband who died last year, disclosed Tuesday that she was being treated for lung cancer.

Her announcement came two days after ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, a smoker, died of lung cancer at age 67.

Despite their different smoking histories, they share the most common cancer in the world, and the deadliest. This year in the United States, an estimated 93,010 men and 79,560 women will be diagnosed with lung cancer and almost an equal number—90,490 men and 73,020 women—will die of it.

But awareness may be on the rise because of the aggressive anti- smoking campaigns in recent years. And stigma may be rising, too.

“When people get breast cancer, people say, ‘What can I do to help you?’ When people get lung cancer, people say, ‘Did you smoke?’ “ said Susan Mantel, executive director of Joan’s Legacy, a fund- raising group named for Joan Scarangello, a nonsmoker and former head writer for newsman Tom Brokaw. Scarangello died in 2001 of lung cancer.

Doctors who treat the disease, like Dr. Bruce Johnson of Dana- Farber Cancer Center in Boston, bristle at the notion of “innocent” and “not so innocent” victims.

“People who smoke don’t deserve to get lung cancer, and people have worked very hard to quit,” he said.

Source: Daily Breeze

RELATED STORIES:
Proton Therapy Safe, Effective for Early-Stage Lung Cancer Patients   Marijuana tied to precancerous lung changes   Gold nanotech breath test may show lung cancer early   Small Steps Toward Lung Cancer Relief   Long-term cannabis use raises risk of lung cancer   Cellular clues to vitamin A resistance in lung cancer   Cancer risks of eating red and processed meat   Radiation Therapy Increases Survival in Certain Lung Cancer Patients   Exercise Can Reduce a Smoker’s Lung Cancer Risk, but Quitting Still Most Important   Last-minute radiation saves lung cancer patients   New lung cancer research finds half of advanced lung cancer patients receive chemotherapy   New test predicts if lung cancer will spread   Hormone replacement tied to lung cancer risk   Study Helps Explain Why Black Patients with Lung Cancer Have Surgery Less Often than Whites   Infectious Agent May Impact Lung Cancer   Smac-ing lung cancer to death   Lung Cancer: Who is a Candidate for Surgery?   Urine Test May Determine if a Smoker is at Risk for Lung Cancer   Learn the Signs and Symptoms of Lung Cancer   Red Wine May Lower Lung Cancer Risk   Oral test could predict lung cancer, study finds   Gene fusion in lung cancer afflicting never-smokers may be target for therapy

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]