Patients With Lung Cancer Face Smoking-Related Stigma

Patients with lung cancer often face stigma related to smoking, as an expert recently explained in an interview with CURE.

Patricia I. Moreno, who holds a Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and lead of evidence-based survivorship and supportive care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Health System.

She recently sat down for an interview with CURE to discuss stigmas that patients with lung cancer have to deal with, and how those stigmas can in turn affect patients’ overall well-being.

Transcript

What are some stigmas that patients with lung cancer face, and how can these affect patients?

The biggest source of stigma is the strong association with smoking and lung cancer. So, smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, but lung cancer is a very complex interplay of environment and genes. It's not just among people who have smoked, but very often, people feel stigmatized by their smoking status, whether or not they did smoke. If they didn't smoke, they are constantly being asked if they smoked, whereas when most people share that they have a cancer diagnosis, people respond with empathy and concern.

Oftentimes, for people who are diagnosed with lung cancer, the very first question off the back is, “Do you smoke?” Or, “Did you smoke?” which really pulls focus away from their need for support and kindness in that moment.

And then, people who do have history of smoking or do currently smoke, on the other hand, feel really stigmatized by feeling blamed by this idea of having brought something upon yourself, which is not the case. Most people who smoke never develop lung cancer, but it is a risk factor, and so it's just much more complicated.

And lung cancer, of course, is rising among people who have never smoked, as a result of air quality and other environmental exposures that are also associated with lung cancer.

Cancer is stressful and it usually it impacts your emotional well-being in different ways for different people. Oftentimes there's a lot of concern, anxiety, kind of depressed mood or changes in mood that is even more heightened among people who feel stigmatized for their cancer, so you see even higher levels of distress and sometimes a sense of isolation or lack of support from other people.

That's one of the most important things for people who have cancer, to feel like they have a strong sense of support around them and a strong sense of consideration for what they're going through, and if you're blaming someone for their cancer, of course, that completely erodes this idea of them feeling cocooned in support.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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