The news of the death of longtime ABC News anchor Peter Jennings and the revelation that actress Dana Reeve, widow of Christopher Reeve has lung cancer has shaken Americans out of their slumber into doing something to make sure that they do not fall a victim to what has been widely dubbed as "the deadliest cancer."
As previously believed, the cancer does not affect only smokers as evidenced by the fact that Dana Reeve is a non-smoker. And the mortality rates are chilling. Lung cancer kills 160,000 Americans a year, a figure that beats those of breast cancer, colon cancer and prostrate cancer combined! And the survival rates are nothing to write home about either. 60 percent of patients die within a year after diagnosis and 85 percent succumb to the ravages of the cancer within five years.
So what makes this cancer deadlier than those mentioned before? For starters it is not only smokers who are affected. Yes, they are a majority of the victims, but the spectrum for lung cancer victims has widened to include passive smokers and non-smokers as well. Another factor that is largely responsible for adding up the numbers is the fact that women have begun to bear the brunt of lung caner, perhaps more than men. Sherry Marts, the vice president of scientific affairs for the Society for Women’s Health Research, says that nonsmoking women are more likely than nonsmoking men to develop lung cancer, "Environmental factors other than smoke play a role in the development of lung cancer in nonsmoking women. The small amount of research available suggests that, when exposed to an environmental carcinogen, nonsmoking women are more susceptible to DNA damage than nonsmoking men."
And now true to the adage that prevention is better than cure, a small test may prove to be the answer to millions of smokers. The test called as a spiral or helical CT scan promises to detect tumors as small as 5 millimeters in width. This has now roused the interest among smokers and non-smokers alike who are rushing to get the $300 a test done. However, the government and the American Cancer Society say that there are no guarantees that the test is a good one. "The concern that we have is false positive rates. What we don't want to do is create even more anxiety" by backing a test that is so imprecise," observes Tom Glynn, the cancer society's director.
Though timely detection is a need of the hour, patients and laymen alike should be aware that it is not an answer in itself. The CT scan does hold promise, but as the government says it is too early to say whether its widespread use is indeed warranted.
