Nationwide GfK Roper Survey Finds: When it Comes to Lung Cancer, Most Americans are Unaware -- or in Denial

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- While lung cancer will kill three times more of us than any other cancer in 2011, nearly three quarters of Americans could not identify the leading cancer killer, according to the results of a nationwide poll released here today by Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World(SM), a national communications campaign designed to increase public awareness and understanding of lung cancer.

Of 1,005 adults surveyed by the national polling firm of GfK Roper Public Affairs, 72% either misidentified the cancer that kills the most Americans every year or had no idea what it was.

And the poll evidenced scant awareness of just how deadly the disease is. When asked about the five-year survival rate for lung cancer – which has hovered around 15% for decades – 92% of Americans either had no idea what it was or overstated the disease's five-year survival rate by at least 50%.

Remarkably, while lung cancer will kill 160,000 Americans in 2011 and an individual's lifetime risk of a lung cancer diagnosis is 1 in 14, 23% of those surveyed think they are more likely to appear on a reality TV show than to ever get lung cancer.  

"The polling data evidence a breathtaking disconnect between Americans' understanding of lung cancer and the virulence of the disease," said Annie Weber, SVP and General Manager of GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications.

Ironically, close to half of those surveyed (48%) said they know someone who has been diagnosed with or died of lung cancer.

"It's not so much that the American public doesn't care about lung cancer; it's that we're either unaware or in denial," said Leaders campaign co-founder Rob Densen. "It's as if there is a serial killer loose in our community and everyone is looking the other way.

"As our survey reveals, there is also a lot of misinformation, misperception, and stereotyping attending lung cancer," Densen said. "The result is that the biggest and most insidious cancer killer of all runs rampant.  At the end of the day, what we have with lung cancer is a failure to communicate – or at least to communicate well."

The interviews were conducted via telephone between Oct. 7 and Oct. 9, 2011 among adults at least 18 years of age living in the continental U.S.  Results were weighted by age, gender, education and region to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the general population.  The margin of error for results based on the total sample is +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Women and Lung Cancer

Awareness and understanding is even worse when it comes to lung cancer and women.  Better than 9 in 10 Americans (93%) misidentified the leading cancer killer of women or had no idea what it was.  Only 7% of Americans (including only 8% of women) knew lung cancer was the leading cancer killer of women (49% thought breast cancer was).

In truth, lung cancer will kill 71,000 women this year – that's nearly 80% more women than will die from breast cancer and more than the total of deaths among women from breast, uterine and ovarian cancers combined.

"Lung cancer diagnoses among women are up six-fold in the last 30 years, a sad byproduct of the targeted marketing of cigarettes to women in the 1960s and '70s and the addictive nature of nicotine," said Regina Vidaver, Ph.D., executive director of the National Lung Cancer Partnership, a leading lung cancer advocacy and research organization founded by doctors and researchers and one of three national lung cancer organizations working with Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World.

"At the same time, one in five women with lung cancer never smoked. That's twice the percentage as seen among men with the disease," Dr. Vidaver said.  "No one yet knows why, and not enough people are asking the question."

Smoking and Lung Cancer

The survey also evidenced lingering misperceptions with regard to lung cancer – absolutely and in specific relation to smoking.

More than a quarter of those surveyed (26%) believe it's "extremely rare" for someone who never smoked to get lung cancer – and 64% of Americans said they would be surprised to learn that many people who get lung cancer never smoked.  In fact, up to 30,000 Americans who never smoked will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011.  

With regard to smoking and lung cancer, survey results pointed to a lack of sympathy among a considerable minority of respondents, as 37% of those surveyed agreed with the statement "I don't think it's that hard to stop smoking" and 31% said "it's hard to feel sorry for people who get lung cancer because they usually bring it on themselves by using tobacco."

"The fact is it's not easy to stop smoking," said Dr. Stephanie Levine, President of The CHEST Foundation of The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), which is also a Leaders campaign partner.  "Countless men and women have worked hard to improve their overall health by overcoming an addictive, difficult-to-control, life-long behavior. They deserve our understanding and support."

About Leaders

The Leaders campaign was formed in response to the low level of public awareness and understanding of lung cancer.

"Lung cancer will kill at least three times more of us this year than the most next deadly cancer," said Leaders campaign co-founder Arielle Densen.  "A large part of the problem is that the disease has not received public attention or research dollars proportionate to its prevalence or virulence."

"As a family, we don't question why lung cancer happens and why it happened to ours," Ms. Densen said.  "What we don't understand is why we are not much further along in the fight against this awful disease. Greater government and health care industry attention is critical, but we can all be leaders of a lung cancer free world.

Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World(SM) is a nationwide communications campaign designed to generate greater public awareness and understanding of lung cancer, the nation's number one cancer killer by a factor of three.  For more information or to donate to or engage with one of our non-profit partners – the CHEST Foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians, the National Lung Cancer Partnership, or Uniting Against Lung Cancer – please visit http://www.lungcancerleaders.org

SOURCE Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World