Some Canadians don’t have much sympathy for those suffering from lung cancer on account of the disease’s association with smoking, a new survey has found.
Because of the smoking connection, lung cancer patients are likely to experience significant stigma—a phenomenon that could impact the care and treatment they receive, according to the research.
One in five Canadians admit feeling less sympathetic toward sufferers of lung cancer due to its known association with smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products, reported the survey, which was conducted in 16 countries by Ipsos MORI on behalf of The Global Lung Cancer Coalition.
“This research supports what we have known for a long time—that lung cancer continues to carry the very heavy burden of stigma,” said Dr. James Gowing in a press release. Gowing is the co-chair of the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada, a member of The Global Lung Cancer Coalition.
“You simply do not see this type of blame culture with any other disease, or patients and families being abandoned. No one deserves lung cancer, and certainly no one deserves to die from it.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In Canada in 2009, the prevalence of lung cancer at 23,400 was similar to that of breast cancer (22,900). But lung cancer claimed the lives of 20,500 Canadians compared with 5,400 deaths from breast cancer.
Gowing is critical of these lop-sided statistics.
Because of the smoking connection, lung cancer patients are likely to experience significant stigma—a phenomenon that could impact the care and treatment they receive, according to the research.
One in five Canadians admit feeling less sympathetic toward sufferers of lung cancer due to its known association with smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products, reported the survey, which was conducted in 16 countries by Ipsos MORI on behalf of The Global Lung Cancer Coalition.
“This research supports what we have known for a long time—that lung cancer continues to carry the very heavy burden of stigma,” said Dr. James Gowing in a press release. Gowing is the co-chair of the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada, a member of The Global Lung Cancer Coalition.
“You simply do not see this type of blame culture with any other disease, or patients and families being abandoned. No one deserves lung cancer, and certainly no one deserves to die from it.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In Canada in 2009, the prevalence of lung cancer at 23,400 was similar to that of breast cancer (22,900). But lung cancer claimed the lives of 20,500 Canadians compared with 5,400 deaths from breast cancer.
Gowing is critical of these lop-sided statistics.
“The mortality rate from lung cancer is horrific in this country and we aren’t seeing the improvement we should be seeing, given all we know now about this disease today,” he said.
“In fact, the 10-year survival rate in Canada is four times higher for breast cancer than lung cancer. Interestingly, the rate of investment into research for lung cancer is four times lower than that for breast cancer.”
Sympathy levels in Canada were on a par with the other countries, the only difference being that in Canada, men are less sympathetic than women toward people with lung cancer than other cancers—27 percent compared to 19 percent.
The Global Lung Cancer Coalition concluded that the stigma uncovered in their research has contributed “at a broader level” to the poor resourcing of research and treatments necessary to help people live longer after a lung cancer diagnosis.
In the study, when asked whether they thought lung cancer or breast cancer killed the most people in their country, an almost equal number of Canadians selected both lung cancer (60 percent) and breast cancer (58 percent). One-third did not pick lung cancer.
Although smoking causes most lung cancers, up to 15 percent of patients have never smoked in their lives and 35 percent quit before their diagnosis.
Nevertheless, lung cancer patients feel particularly stigmatized because the disease is so strongly associated with smoking, often causing self-blame, guilt, and shame, which can contribute to depression or anxiety.
“It is time we recognized the toll this devastating illness is taking on Canadians, so that we can overcome the stigma of lung cancer and work towards better prevention, earlier detection, improved treatments, and a cure for all Canadians diagnosed with lung cancer,” said Dr. Natasha Leighl, president of Lung Cancer Canada.
The research also found a connection between sympathy levels and the rate of smoking in each country. In general, people in countries with fewer smokers more often felt less sympathetic to people with lung cancer compared with other cancers. However, other cultural or traditional factors also play a role.
“The results of this study raise the question of how stigma toward the victims of lung cancer—smokers and non-smokers alike—impacts the support they receive, particularly from the healthcare system,” said Heather Borquez, CEO and president of The Canadian Lung Association.
“As Canadians, we also need to ask ourselves how we can help the five million smokers in our country to quit and stay quit, so that they might escape the terrible fate of lung cancer.”
The research surveyed 16,000 people in 16 different countries, including Australia, Japan, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Spain, Slovenia, and the United States. The same questions were asked in each country.
