The article in Annals of Internal Medicine explains that avoiding terms like “smoker,” and normalizing tobacco-related conversations without blame can be key to improving lung cancer outcomes.
LOS ANGELES — Over the past decade, advances in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer have led to significantly better survival rates and improved quality of life. Yet despite these medical breakthroughs, 25% to 40% of people diagnosed with advanced lung cancer still receive no treatment.
A newly released article in Annals of Internal Medicine, co-authored by investigators from the American Cancer Society’s National Lung Cancer Roundtable, including Loyola Marymount University’s Timothy Williamson, suggests that outdated societal views on lung cancer — steeped in stigma and nihilism — are partly to blame. These perceptions, the authors argue, are rooted in an earlier era when treatment options were limited and survival outcomes were poor and have not evolved alongside the scientific advancements.
“We propose a multilevel strategy with nine actionable recommendations, centered on this simple but essential message: lung cancer is preventable, detectable, treatable, and manageable,” said Williamson, assistant professor of psychological science in LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts. “We need to replace stigma and nihilism with empathy and hope, fostering a more compassionate landscape of care that helps reduce the burden of lung cancer for individuals and society.”
The article’s release this week is fitting: June marks National Cancer Survivors Month, a time to honor and celebrate the strength, resilience, determination, and length of survival of those who have been diagnosed with cancer.
The article calls for a shift in how to discuss lung cancer in clinics and the media with empathic communication — avoiding terms like “smoker” — and normalizing tobacco-related conversations without blame. The authors highlight the urgent need to address the emotional toll of lung cancer, which has one of the highest suicide rates among all cancers, by offering more supportive, hopeful care.
The study also highlights a broader public responsibility. Communications campaigns should move away from harmful imagery and stereotypes that create negative narratives and reinforce stigma and instead reflect a hopeful reality: lung cancer outcomes are improving, and early detection can save lives. The authors emphasize that clinicians should consistently identify and refer eligible individuals — adults aged 50 to 80 with a significant smoking history — for lung cancer screening, and that both clinician and patient hesitancy must be addressed.
“Feelings of blame, guilt, and hopelessness discourage patients from seeking care and influence how care is offered, even by clinicians,” said Jamie L. Studts, professor in the Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We are asking all health care clinicians and teams to join us in communicating the new reality that treatments for lung cancer can be very effective and that symptoms and side effects can be successfully managed.”
“June is National Cancer Survivors’ Month, a reminder that more people are living longer after a lung cancer diagnosis thanks to advances in early detection and treatment,” added Lisa Carter-Bawa, director of the Cancer Prevention Precision Control Institute, Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health. “Low-dose CT screening can save lives, but uptake remains low due to stigma and fatalism. We must change the narrative, and we want patients to feel empowered to ask their primary care clinicians about lung cancer screening — early action makes a difference.”
Finally, the study calls for increased investment in lung cancer research, which requires more federal and nonprofit support to fund research on par with other cancers. The current disparity hinders innovation and perpetuates public misunderstanding.
This call to action is also being advanced at LMU through Williamson’s Psychosocial Risk and Resilience in Stress and Medicine (PRRISM) Research Lab, which is engaged in work directly aligned with the paper’s recommendations. With the support of more than 10 undergraduate research assistants, Williamson is researching ways to reduce stigma, promote equitable care, and improve communication in lung cancer settings. Rooted in LMU’s mission of cura personalis — care for the whole person — this work reflects a reimagining of cancer care that centers empathy, dignity, and justice.