By Ed Weiner

The Search for Breaking News

News anchors Edward R. Murrow and Peter Jennings both died quickly of the same disease. How much has changed in lung cancer treatment in 40 years?

By Ed Weiner

As Johnson notes, the median survival of people with previously untreated stage IV lung cancer who are given the standard agents of cisplatin and carboplatin in combination with other therapy is still only between eight and 10 months. Progress against lung cancer is “going a bit faster than it has, but we should be doing better,” he says.

For many people, a question about Jennings’ death lingers. Why, they wondered, if he gave up smoking 20 years ago, did he develop lung cancer? Isn’t quitting supposed to prevent that from happening? Says Detterbeck: “Stopping smoking at whatever age you stop smoking is good for you. In fact, there is even data that show that people who develop lung cancer and stop smoking at that time live longer than people who continue to smoke after they get a diagnosis of lung cancer.”

“But one of the misconceptions is that, if you smoke for 20 years and you quit, then eventually your risk of lung cancer goes down to that of somebody who never smoked. That is absolutely not true.” However, he says, “It reduces your risk dramatically compared to people who continue to smoke.”

Those diagnosed with advanced lung cancer need more than a little of Edward R. Murrow’s wish for “good luck,” and a lot of Peter Jennings’ determination. But with these, and with the current medical advances that very well might have helped Murrow, and in time might have helped Jennings, there is a foundation for hope and survival.
 

WOMEN AND NONSMOKERS

It’s a common misperception that lung cancer patients nearly always resemble Edward R. Murrow or Peter Jennings—men with a history of smoking. However, research is putting a new face on today’s lung cancer patient. Data have shown that lung cancer is a reality for many women and nonsmokers.

According to a 2006 report from the American Cancer Society (ACS), lung cancer accounts for 26 percent of cancer-related deaths in women. The ACS estimates that women will make up 47 percent of new lung cancer cases and 44 percent of lung cancer deaths this year. The incidence of adenocarcinoma is also rising relative to other lung cancers. This type of lung cancer is more often seen among nonsmokers and women, says Christine B. Ambrosone, a molecular epidemiologist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.

According to the authors of a March 2005 study in the journal Chest, lung cancer incidence in men peaked in 1984 and began to decline. But lung cancer incidence in women did not peak until 1991 and reached a plateau between 1992 and 1999. “Men are still more likely to develop lung cancer, but women are catching up quickly,” says Ambrosone.

About 15 percent of patients with lung cancer have never smoked, and women are more likely to be in this category. “About 10 percent of men with lung cancer are never-smokers, whereas 20 percent of women with lung cancers are never-smokers,” says Ambrosone. She says this difference could possibly be hormonal. “Lung tumors often have estrogen receptors on them and have amplification of [the gene] HER2, which is also seen in breast cancer.” The connection remains unproven but is under investigation.

–Alanna Kennedy

TYPES OF LUNG CANCER

There are two main categories of lung cancer: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Within these two categories, there are several types of cancer composed of different types of cells.

SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

There are three types of small cell lung cancer:

• Small cell carcinoma (also known as oat cell cancer)
• Mixed small cell/large cell carcinoma
• Combined small cell carcinoma

NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

There are three major types of non-small cell lung cancer and several less common types. The main types are:

• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Large cell carcinoma
• Adenocarcinoma

Other less common types of non-small cell lung cancer include pleomorphic, carcinoid tumor and salivary gland carcinoma.

Source: National Cancer Institute