Lung Cancer Alliance Commends Research On Non-Smoking Lung Cancer Cases

Main Category: Lung Cancer
Also Included In: Smoking / Quit Smoking;  Public Health
Article Date: 06 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PST

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Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) commended the work of a Stanford researcher for documenting the number of non-smokers who are being diagnosed with lung cancer.

According to the report, which followed a detailed analysis of all available data, 8 percent of men and 20 percent of women who are diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked. That means that in 2007, 30,000 people who have never smoked will be diagnosed with lung cancer, nearly two thirds of them women. The study was published last month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Heather Wakelee, MD, of Stanford Clinical Cancer Center's Division of Medical Oncology, and author and lead researcher of the study said, "We can now say that lung cancer in never-smokers is as big an epidemic as cervical cancer in women."

"Though we had estimates of these numbers before, we didn't have the comprehensive study that could really put those numbers in perspective," Dr. Wakelee commented to LCA.

Laurie Fenton, LCA president, praised Dr. Wakelee for her research.

"For years the public health establishment has refused to address lung cancer as a disease, fueling the negative attitude toward lung cancer patients -- whether they smoked or not -- and using the stigma of smoking to justify the underfunding of research," said Fenton. "Now we face an epidemic of lung cancer, particularly in nonsmoking women."

Given the new figures, an estimated 14,200 women who have never smoked will die of lung cancer this year, nearly four times the total number of women -- 3,700 -- who will die of cervical cancer.

"Isn't this enough?" queried Fenton. "Haven't enough people died to prompt the medical community to start addressing lung cancer research and early detection with some sense of urgency?"

Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer, causing one in three cancer deaths and taking more lives each year than breast, prostate, colon, kidney, melanoma and liver cancers combined. More than 160,000 men and women will die of lung cancer in 2007.

Lung Cancer Alliance (http://www.LungCancerAlliance.org) is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to patient support and advocacy for those living with or at risk for lung cancer. LCA remains committed to leading the movement to reverse decades of stigma and neglect by empowering those with or at risk for the disease, elevating awareness and changing health policy.

Lung Cancer Alliance
http://www.LungCancerAlliance.org