Joe Paterno’s Death Raises Awareness of Lack of Adequate Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma Screening Tools
Joe Paterno, famed Penn State football coach, died Jan. 22, just 72 days after being diagnosed with metastatic small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). According to the National Institutes of Health, the lung cancer that killed Paterno is one of the most aggressive forms of lung cancer and is found in just 15% of all lung cancer cases. The key to increased life expectancy when battling this type of cancer, and other extremely aggressive cancers such as pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma, is early detection.
Unfortunately, while many in the medical field debate whether the current highly sensitive mammogram and PSA test for breast cancer and prostate cancer, respectively, are beneficial preventive measures, researchers have yet to develop an effective lung cancer screening tool. Although the National Cancer Institute (NCI) identifies chest x-rays, CT scans, PET scans and the bronchoscopy as tests used to diagnose lung cancer, these are only effective after a patient has presented with worsening respiratory symptoms.
Both lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is also a rare form of lung cancer and is known to be caused by asbestos exposure, often have symptoms such as a persistent cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and wheezing, that are similar to many other respiratory illnesses. When a patient presents with these symptoms, doctors often first treat the patient for a respiratory infection before turning to testing for cancer. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, it is in an advanced stage causing life-threatening complications.
“Lung cancer doesn’t have real symptoms until it’s too late and at an incurable stage,” Luzerne County pathologist Dr. Mary Pascucci said in a Scranton Times-Tribune article. “There are no ‘screening’ tests for lung cancer like we do for breast and prostate cancer, so the problem is that it’s found at a very late stage.”
Just as with mesothelioma, which is resistant to cancer treatments, combination chemotherapy and radiation treatment is given to SCLC patients. However, the treatment only helps relieve symptoms, and is considered palliative. It does not cure the disease. Stopping tumor growth and preventing metastasis is especially critical for mesothelioma and lung cancer where the diseases are highly aggressive. This can only be achieved if the cancer is detected early.
The primary cause for lung cancer is exposure to environmental hazards including tobacco smoke, asbestos and radon. For Americans with a history of exposure to any of these chemicals, a screening tool that could quickly and effectively identify cancer in its earliest stage could save thousands of lives a year. Treating a stage 1 cancer that has not yet spread is easier, and includes more treatment options, than trying to treat cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to several sites or throughout the body.
Various studies are underway to find an effective lung cancer and mesothelioma screening tool. Researchers at both the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center have developed tests to detect circulating tumor cells. These tests, while still in the early phases of testing, can detect lung cancer as well as determine the efficacy of the treatment.
Other potential early detection tests include Cornell’s “glowing dots” that would attach to cancer cells and glow during a PET scan, and an electronic nose to detect mesothelioma in exhaled breath.
An average of 437 Americans die from lung cancer every day, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance. Lung cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and afflicted 157,300 Americans in 2010, according to federal statistics. 3,000 Americans die from mesothelioma each year.
