Detecting Lung Cancer Blog

Charles—Charlie, as his friends call him—is 78 and a former long term smoker.

Like many kids his age in southern Missouri, Charlie experimented with tobacco at an early age—in Charlie’s case he was 15 years old when he started smoking. Most of his friends smoked, as well as his father, an occasional smoker and his grandfather, a long term pipe smoker.

You can see influence of family on smoking here.

In honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and the Lung Cancer Alliance is celebrated the month of November by releasing its sixth annual National Report Card on Lung Cancer.

It is understood that there is a bias against lung cancer patients.

Even some medical professionals believe that people who have lung cancer have brought the disease upon themselves by smoking. This prejudice against lung cancer patients has led to low funding for lung cancer research and treatment.

Smoking is the number-one risk factor for lung cancer. About 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women and 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men are the result of smoking. Lung cancer is the number-one cancer killer in the United States.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study, “Ingested Arsenic, Cigarette Smoking, and Lung Cancer,” suggesting that ingesting arsenic potentially increases the risk of lung cancer, especially in combination with smoking.

The fact that tobacco smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and accounts for the vast majority of cases is well known—but does it matter how the tobacco is smoked? Are pipe smoking and cigar smoking as hazardous and cigarette smoking?

“Although tobacco smoking is the most important etiologic factor for [lung cancer], a significant portion of lung cancer cases cannot be attributed to tobacco smoking alone.”

It’s Fall, and with this time of year comes the most highly effective awareness and advocacy campaign in health care: October’s Breast Cancer Month. In fact, as I view my world around me, I see no less than half a dozen pink ribbons symbolizing this superb effort to bring attention to breast cancer.

Studies have shown that certain occupations potentially increase the risk of lung cancer among both men and women.

“Occupational Risk Factors for Lung Cancer among U.S. Women” reports that “2-20% of lung cancer deaths in women are estimated to be due to classic industrial lung carcinogens, or workplace exposure to side-stream smoke or radon.”

The list of lung cancer risk factors includes exposure to fibers, such as asbestos, some metals, radon and a number of chemicals. Unfortunately, that exposure is not always easy to avoid—it can be just part of the job.