Nonsmokers can be cancer victims, too :: essays research papers

Like Reeve, widow of "Superman" superstar Christopher Reeve, 1 in 5 women diagnosed with the disease never lit a cigarette, doctors say. Yet they share an unfortunate speck with croupecer patients who flockd."The down the stairslying speculation is, you were a smoker and you caused this, therefore youre not going to get my sympathy," verbalise Tom Labrecque Jr., who started a foundation to raise awareness by and by his nonsmoking car father died several years ago of the disease.No one "deserves" lung cancer, doctors say. scarcely nonsmokers do have one silver lining They respond bring out to the newest targeted cancer drugs like Iressa and Tarceva.Thats because people who get lung cancer early in life, like the 44-year-old Reeve, are more likely to have genetic factors refueling their disease, doctors say. Only 3 percent of lung cancers occur in people under 45, regardless of smoking status.Reeve, an actress who leads a paralysis research foundati on named for her hubby who died last year, disclosed Tuesday that she was being treated for lung cancer but gave no details on how or where.Her announcement came two days after(prenominal) ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, a smoker, died of lung cancer at age 67.Despite their different smoking histories, they share the most park cancer in the world, and the deadliest. This year in the United States, an estimated 93,010 men and 79,560 women exit be diagnosed with lung cancer and almost an equal number -- 90,490 men and 73,020 women -- result die of it.About 10 percent of men and 20 percent of women with lung cancer never smoked, and the number of nonsmokers with the disease doesnt seem to be procession significantly, said Dr. Michael Thun, chief epidemiologist for the American Cancer Society.But awareness may be on the rise because of the aggressive anti-smoking campaigns in recent years. And stigma may be rising, too."When people get breast cancer, people say, What can I do to help you? When people get lung cancer, people say, Did you smoke?" said Susan Mantel, executive director of Joans Legacy, a fund-raising group named for Joan Scarangello, a nonsmoker and former head writer for newsman Tom Brokaw. Scarangello died in 2001 of lung cancer, as did her nonsmoking mother before her."There is a definite stigma," said Labrecque, recalling comments after the funeral for his father, a former chairman of Chase Manhattan Corp."People would say, I didnt know he smoked," he said.His foundations Web site even acknowledges this trend, by stating that more than half of people newly diagnosed with lung cancer each year have both never smoked or quit smoking.