Brief Report: Precision Language and Deletion of the "S" Word

In 2021, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) published the IASLC Language Guide as guidance on preferred language and phrasing in oral and written communications, including presentations at conferences. This study analyzed presentations from the 2022 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) one year after implementation of the Language Guide to identify adoption rates of non-stigmatizing language and to determine correlations with presenter characteristics.

We downloaded 522 slide presentations from the IASLC WCLC 2022 conference attendee portal. We searched each presentation, including images, for discussion of tobacco use and the use of the term "smoker," which is an indicator of stigmatizing language. We conducted internet searches to gather presenters' stated home continent, sex, specialty, and professional degree.

Of 177 presentations that discussed smoking status, 77 presenters used non-stigmatizing language, whereas 100 presenters used the stigmatizing term "smoker." Male MDs and female PhDs and non-medicine subspecialties and advocates were more likely to use non-stigmatizing language.

Encouragingly, only after one year post-release of the Language Guide, more than one-third of the presenters at the WCLC used non-stigmatizing language. This finding represents a step toward improving respectful and inclusive language surrounding smoking within the thoracic oncology community.