Changing Public Perception

I sought solace and support from centers that provided services to breast cancer survivors. They didn’t turn me away. But where were all the lung cancer support centers? Where were all the lung cancer survivors? Where are the people like me, non-smokers with lung cancer? Where was I to find hope?

Here’s what I found, lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the world. It kills more people than the four most well-publicized cancers (breast, colorectal, ovarian and prostate) combined. It kills more women than breast cancer. Female non-smokers under 40 are the fastest growing group of those newly diagnosed. If everyone stopped smoking, there would still be more than 40,000 people diagnosed each year with lung cancer. The 5-year survival rate is 15%. There are no screening programs even for high-risk groups, there is a low perception of risk factors other than smoking, and there is a low perception among non-smokers of the symptoms of lung cancer. This is a marketing professional’s nightmare, and dream.

There is a stigma about lung cancer and it’s as deadly as the disease itself. The stigma keeps the facts of the disease quiet. It silences the voices of the survivors and their families, especially if smoking was involved. The stigma keeps it off the political agenda, and allows lung cancer to be underfunded by government agencies such as the National Institutes for Health (NIH). One of my doctors, my hero, said, “Lung cancer treatment is where breast cancer treatment was ---40 years ago.”

We can change that.

Calendar Project | The Future