I've smoked since I was 15 years old. I've known for a long time that it was bad for me. Another reason for the lack of lung cancer spending is that researchers themselves aren't pushing hard for the money. We don't set aside specific amounts of money for specific types of cancer. We depend on the researchers out there on the front lines, who know what's possible to do, to come up with ideas.
Funding agencies can and do influence research efforts.
From time to time, the cancer society sets aside 10 percent of its research budget to encourage work in under-studied areas. Last year, it sought proposals for cancers that affect the poor and under-served, which indirectly includes lung cancer. A few years ago, it called for more study of the psycho-social aspects of cancer. However, the cancer society has never used the 10 percent program to focus directly on lung cancer, Ms. Willis said. At the National Cancer Institute, AIDS research gets more money than lung cancer.