Peter Jennings’ Cancer
If Peter Jennings was not your primary news source for over two decades, he was at least a well known television news reporter and anchor. He landed the position of ABC World News Tonight anchor in 1983 and was a welcomed guest in millions of homes each evening through 2005. Jennings began smoking as a 13-year-old. He finally kicked the habit in 1988. Earning numerous professional awards, he was at the peak of his career when he became ill in early 2005. It was not until the summer of that year that he was diagnosed as having lung cancer. Since he had not smoked in almost 20 years, tobacco was not necessarily a contributor. Thousands of lung cancer’s victims have never used tobacco in any form. In fact, although smokers are at much greater risk, over 60% of those who die from lung cancer are non-smokers. Jennings began chemotherapy treatments immediately, which suggests that his cancer was Stage IV–metastasized to other parts of his body. If detected early enough, often surgery will be the first treatment attempt. However, lung cancer is a stealthy monster, and we currently have no screening methods for its early detection. Just weeks after discovering the disease, Jennings died on August 7, 2005, at the age of 67.
Last year, over 215,000 Americans were diagnosed with lung cancer. Many more had been diagnosed previously and were being treated for it. Almost 162,000 died from it last year. One was my older brother, Verl. Verl had never smoked, never worked around asbestos, or did anything that normally contributes to the disease. It is the number one cancer killer in both men and women. A recent study showed that two-thirds of women believed that their worst cancer fear was breast cancer. However, lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer. This type of cancer accounts for 28 % of all cancer deaths–more than breast, prostate, and colon cancers combined.
Several unconventional treatments are presently being developed. Anti-angiogensis, a procedure to restrict or eleminate the blood supply to malignant cancer tumors, is being tested for many types of cancers including lung cancer. Precision surgery techniques involving laser technology could permit removal of certain cancers without harming healthy tissues, without causing excess bleeding, and without risking infections. Laser surgery would be a major advancement for treating lung cancer. Biological therapy builds the natural immune system by enhancing the white blood cells, particularly the killer T cells that attack cancer cells. Biological therapy is the antithesis of chemotherapy due to its non-toxic nature and less harmful side effects. These and many other methodologies could increase the effectiveness of conventional therapies and reduce their collateral damage to the body. Research into these new and promising complementary treatments is slow in getting traction. Since integrating the options into the established realm of oncology is a difficult process, they are not widely accessible. Too few oncologists are integrative oncologists. Demand for integrative oncology must come from the general public. That requires increased awareness and support for a new strategy of integrative oncology. Such increased awareness and support remains the objective of this blog and the Connie Thompson Foundation. Visit our web site often: www.cancerchoices.org.