‘Lung cancer is not just a smoker's disease anymore’

CALGARY -

Alberta lung cancer patients are calling for more awareness about the disease that claims tens of thousands of Canadian lives annually.

Wendy Kam, was first diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in February 2020. However she first started to notice a decline in her health five years prior.

Kam says it's the healthcare system that fails patients, sometimes until it is too late.

“They treat the cough, they treat the eye problems, they treat the headaches whatever else, and they don’t look at the whole picture,” said Kam.

“I’m coming upon that two year mark, which has me nervous because that’s kind of what they say is the benchmark.”

Kam says her battle has been challenging, and something she works through day-to-day.

“My daughter is getting married, I’m going to be a grandmother one day,” she said.

“I’m not ready to go.”

Kam says she was a recipient of immunotherapy. But when undergoing treatment, she began getting blood clots and inflammation around her heart.

Unmasking the Reality of Lung Cancer founder Diane Colton, a lung cancer survivor herself says about 2,200 Albertans are diagnosed every year, with 1,700-1,900 dying yearly.

Although the cancer shrunk, she was told to stop treatment, and nothing else could be done. 

UNMASKING THE REALITY OF LUNG CANCER

Unmasking the Reality of Lung Cancer founder Diane Colton, a lung cancer survivor herself says about 2,200 Albertans are diagnosed every year, with 1,700-1,900 dying yearly.

“Lung cancer is one of the most complex cancers there is,” says Colton.

“Knowing that anybody and everybody is at risk is one of the first steps," she added. "What tends to happen, is lung cancer is diagnosed at Stage 4 which is when it is most difficult to treat. In a lot of cases it's untreatable. That’s because their symptoms are being dismissed when they go to get them checked.”

Colton adds that twice as many women die from lung cancer in Canada than breast cancer.

The Canadian Cancer Society says in 2021, 29,600 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer. This equates to 13 per cent of new cancer cases.

About 21,000 people will succumb to their lung cancer this year.

Some of the leading causes of lung cancer are smoking, radon, and air pollution.

GENETIC MUTATION

Calgarian Dave Nitsche was diagnosed because of a genetic mutation.

“Lung cancer is not just a smoker's disease anymore,” he said.

“It can affect anybody, at any time.”

Nitsche says he was shocked by his diagnosis in 2019, which resulted in him losing his left eye.

While out for a run, his vision became blurry.

A biopsy was done and fluid was drained from behind his eye. It was then removed.

The blurry vision was due to his lung cancer, something that at the time, had been undiagnosed.

Nitsche was an avid runner, getting out four to five times weekly. Now it's about once every two weeks, but he adds that “I am still very active. I hike as much as I can."

“I have a dog," he said, continuing,  "who comes out here on the dog hill everyday. Life has changed a little bit, but for the most part I try to get out as much as I can and maintain that healthy lifestyle.”

In a new 2021 report, Cancer Care Alberta says in our province, one in 13 women and men are expected to develop lung cancer in their lifetime.

One in 18 men have a chance of dying while its one in 19 women that have a chance of dying.

The highest risk category for men to develop lung cancer in Alberta is those aged 80 and older with one out of 22 men.

Forty eight percent of all Lung Cancer patients in 2016-17 were diagnosed in Stage 4. 26 percent were diagnosed in Stage 1, while another 22 percent were diagnosed in Stage 3.

Data from 2008-2017 provided by Alberta Health shows more people are being diagnosed at Stage 1, with a slight decline of those patients being told when they are in Stage 4.

AHS says over the last 20-year period, Alberta men saw an improvement of expected lifespan by one per cent and Albertan woman by three per cent.

Alberta Health Services has also received two years of funding from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) to implement a lung cancer screening pilot program in 2022 for high-risk individuals (significant smoking history).

It is estimated within the first two years of the pilot, up to 1500 eligible people will be screened with low-dose CT in AHS facilities.