Early Detection of Lung Cancer Could Be Affected by Bias

According to the results of a survey of 1,500 adult Americans as reported by ABC News, "a majority of Americans, including many health-care workers, believe that people who have lung cancer are at least partly to blame for their disease."

The report goes on to say that, in spite of the disease residing as the number-one cause of cancer deaths in this country, this bias leads to reduced resources to fight the disease. It also adds shame and guilt to the already difficult situation that cancer patients face.

The ABC story quotes Laurie Fenton Ambrose, president and CEO of Lung Cancer Alliance. In the article, Ambrose states the following:

"Sadly, the stigma has been used to justify under-funding, not only of research but also of programs for early detection and treatment."

This response is probably, in part, due to the success of anti-smoking campaigns.

Most people have learned that smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer. Unfortunately, many of them appear to have made the leap to believing that smoking is the only cause.

The fact is that about 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and nearly 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women are caused by smoking.

However, that means that thousands of the approximately 161,000 people in the U.S. who die of lung cancer are not smokers. This should give pause to those who hold the bias.

But even if so many non-smokers didn't develop the disease and smoking were the only cause, it is difficult to justify the bias.

Although smoking is the number-one risk factor, it is not the only one. Family history plays a significant role, as does exposure to other environmental materials, such as asbestos and radon.

It seems doubtful that many people would blame a worker who, even knowingly, came into contact with a hazardous material every day for developing the disease. Nor would most people refuse to help fund diabetes research even though poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle are important risk factors for that disorder.

It seems clear that lung cancer, which kills more people than melanoma, kidney, prostate, liver, breast and colon cancers combined, deserves at least the amount of attention breast cancer receives today.

Too many lives depend on it.

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