For lung cancer patients, shame is a deadly side effect

By Simar Bajaj

The New York Times

When Jim Pantelas was diagnosed with lung cancer at 52, he felt that he had brought this disease upon himself.

Having started smoking at age 12, Pantelas, a Navy veteran, was consumed by shame — certain that cancer was his punishment.

He didn’t even want treatment at first, thinking that he deserved to die. But with his wife six months pregnant, Pantelas relented, fighting to meet his unborn daughter, Stella. “All my motivation to try and stay alive became external,” he said.

Lung cancer kills more people in the United States than any other cancer, but experts say that many of these deaths are preventable. When it’s caught early and treated, 4 in 5 patients can be cured.

But only 18% of eligible Americans get screened for lung cancer, compared with the 70% to 80% who get mammograms, colonoscopies and Pap smears. And once diagnosed, 20% of lung cancer patients receive no treatment versus 5% for breast, colon and cervical cancer patients.

No single factor explains this gap, but experts say that a cloud of judgment hangs over lung cancer and pushes people away from care.

“Stigma is killing people before the cancer actually has a chance to,” said Jill Feldman, a lung cancer survivor a...