Perception of lung cancer among the general population and comparison with other cancers

To evaluate the perception of lung cancer in the general population to identify obstacles in patient-doctor communications.

A prospective nationwide survey was conducted using a questionnaire and lexical approaches given to 2200 healthy subjects selected within a representative polling database.

Of the 1469 subjects eligible for full analysis, most were well informed regarding the epidemiological changes to lung cancer and the main risk factors. The overall survival of patients with lung cancer (32%) was overestimated, and the survival of patients with early stages of lung cancer was underestimated (52%). Lung cancer was identified as a severe disease (82%) with a worse prognosis than other cancers. Most of the population was aware of the main treatments available, except for targeted therapy. Using lexical analyses, we observed that a major proportion considered lung cancer to be a tobacco-induced, life-threatening disease that involved major treatment, and a minor proportion considered it to be an environmentally induced disease. Compared with breast cancer, lung cancer was characterized by a greater feeling of guilt and was more frequently associated with lifestyle.

We have identified knowledge gaps in the perception of lung cancer and have highlighted a need for a public information campaign on lung-cancer screening to promote the good survival rate from early-stage disease and the progress achieved with new therapeutic strategies.