| Lung Cancer: Reaching the Younger Generation
Tri-City Voice, November 19, 2008
Lung Specialist
Promotes Lung Cancer
Awareness for Patients of
All Ages
As a critical care and pulmonary
medicine specialist and medical director
of Pulmonary Rehabilitation and
Respiratory Services at Washington
Hospital, Dr. Jason Chu sees the entire
gamut of pulmonary diseases and
conditions from smoking-related
emphysema to sleep apnea.
In recognition of Lung Cancer
Awareness Month, Dr. Chu discusses lung
cancer, which remains the No. 1 cause of
cancer death in the United States.
Lung cancer is one of the most
frustrating diagnoses Dr. Chu has to
make. And despite its relatively low
profile in the public eye compared to
other diseases, lung cancer kills three
times as many men as prostate cancer
each year and twice as many women as
breast cancer will, he says.
"Among the majority of groups –
Caucasian, black, Asian and others –
there is no racial preclusion in terms
of lung cancer," Dr. Chu notes. "This
disease crosses all barriers and
accounts for 30 percent of all cancer
deaths."
Lung cancer remains difficult to
diagnose, treat
Dr. Chu is incredibly knowledgeable
about the disease and relates statistics
and facts effortlessly, but he freely
admits that lung cancer is confounding
when it comes to early diagnosis and
treatment.
Unlike colon, cervical, breast and
other types of cancer, there exists no
reliable form of screening for lung
cancer.
"In most cases, lung cancer is
undetectable by routine chest X-ray in
early stages of the disease," Dr. Chu
explains. "It spreads quickly and is
asymptotic. There isn’t a symptom that
has a high correlation to the disease –
a chronic cough, for instance, could
mean bronchitis. Lung cancer really
provides no warning signs. What makes it
difficult is that most patients have
typical symptoms that mimic conditions
like bronchitis and serve to cloud the
physician’s diagnostic acumen. Symptoms
of lung cancer are subtle and similar."
By the time the cancer is visible by
chest X-ray or another imaging modality,
it’s fairly advanced, Dr. Chu says.
While imaging studies are improving, the
medical community is not using the
technology for detection, but rather for
staging to determine if the cancer is
operable or not.
It is less common for lung cancer to
be diagnosed in early stages – Stage 1
or 2 of the disease – than it in Stage 3
or 4.
"If the cancer is detected earlier in
Stage 1 or 2, that’s when you can try
for a resection," which refers to the
partial removal of an organ, such as the
lung, Dr. Chu says. "Unfortunately, by
the time the cancer reaches Stage 3 or
4, it has spread to lymphatic system or
bloodstream. That’s the hard part – that
the cancer doesn’t show up in early
stages."
Most of the patients Dr. Chu sees
with lung cancer – between 85 percent
and 90 percent of them – have a history
of smoking. He estimates that current
smokers make up between 35 percent and
40 percent of the lung cancer cases he
comes across and another 50 percent
encompasses past smokers.
A message for the younger generations
In his practice as a specialist, Dr.
Chu says a majority of the patients he
sees already suffer from some form of
lung disease. When discussing lung
cancer, he says his message is
particularly crucial for the younger
population – those that smoke already
and those that haven’t started.
"I want young people to receive the
message that there’s a high prevalence
of lung cancer if you smoke, and that
it’s something that can start very
early," Dr. Chu says. "The clock is
ticking from the get go. You may feel if
you’re younger that you have time on
your side – that if you quit in your 30s
40s or 50s, you’ll be able to dodge lung
cancer.
"Smoking is detrimental to your
health from the first cigarette you
smoke to the very last."
Dr. Chu notes that many younger
people are taken in by the rumor that if
they stop smoking, their lungs will go
back to a pre-smoking condition in five
years. This is a myth, he says.
Why it’s tough to quit
It’s a combination of factors that
make it difficult to quit smoking, he
says.
"The nicotine is a very powerful
addictive chemical that gives a
sensation of euphoria and wellbeing and
is more addictive than cocaine and
morphine," he explains. "There’s a much
greater difficulty quitting smoking than
alcohol or other substance abuse
problems. It’s partly chemical, but also
a kind of lifestyle for people that are
used to having a cigarette in their hand
and having cigarettes as part of their
day-to-day routine."
For young people, particularly
teenagers, it’s even harder to quit
simply because they don’t feel like they
have to worry for decades, Dr. Chu says.
The truth is that quitting smoking –
or not starting – is the only surefire
way to reduce the chances of developing
many respiratory conditions, such as
chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD),
smoking-related emphysema and lung
cancer. And it is
possible to quit.
Dr. Chu recommends that people ask
their primary care physician about
pharmaceutical aids for quitting.
Combined with smoking cessation programs
and social support groups, these
medications can help those truly
determined to quit.
With so many of his patients being
decades-long habitual smokers, Dr. Chu
wants his message to reach the members
of the community he may never meet
because they are still able to make
choices that will reduce their
likelihood of developing lung disease.
For more information about services
and programs at Washington Hospital,
visit
www.whhs.com and click on
"Services & Programs." To see local
health-related programming, tune into
InHealth, a Washington Hospital
Channel, on Comcast Cable channel 78. |
