Only five in every hundred cases will survive longer than five years. This situation is relatively unchanged since King George VI died of lung cancer in 1952. Many members of the general public, including some of those suffering from lung cancer and even some health professionals have distinctly negative attitudes towards lung cancer because of its association with smoking. Since survival is short and the disease is most prevalent in the poorer sections of society, support is weak. Patients also often feel guilty because they smoked.
Lung cancer is therefore a stigmatised disease with a low media profile.
Governments have historically tried to tackle lung cancer by funding smoking prevention campaigns. To date, these have made little impact on the number of people starting to smoke and, in addition, the number of ex-smokers presenting with the disease has steadily risen. Funding for basic scientific research into the causes and development of lung cancer has been severely limited. There are two stunning facts which everyone should know about lung cancer. From diagnosis to death takes an average of four months and only five in every hundred of those diagnosed survive longer than five years.