The fear that surrounds lung cancer
Few words evoke as much fear as lung cancer. Conjuring up the starkest of images, lung cancer remains one of the most feared cancers, with many people crippled with the belief that once diagnosed, there is only one outcome.
Michael believed this deeply. After losing his sister to lung cancer, he then faced the same diagnosis himself.
“I was devastated when my sister died,” Michael recalls. “So when doctors diagnosed me with small cell lung cancer, my first thought was, ‘I’ll be dead within a year.’”
“I just assumed that’s what happened — you were diagnosed and then you died. There was no in-between. That had been my sister’s experience so why would I be any different?”
But Michael was different. Diagnosed early, he had a conversation with his oncologist that changed his complete perception.
“My oncologist told me they were aiming to cure me. That word — cure — completely floored me. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I understood lung cancer — the symptoms, the outcome — but it turns out I was the poster boy for misconceptions.”
Challenging misconceptions about lung cancer
Determined to stop others falling into the same misunderstandings, Michael now features as one of eight people in Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s new awareness campaign, This is Lung Cancer.
Challenging outdated perceptions and stigma, the campaign uses stories of people thriving after a diagnosis to highlight progress in diagnosis and treatment to encourage people to seek help earlier.
“Too many misconceptions still exist about lung cancer,” says Paula Chadwick, Chief Executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. People still believe lung cancer is an instant death sentence and, as a result, actively avoid seeking out a diagnosis.”
“Through some incredible people – all with their own positive experiences to tell – we are changing the lung cancer narrative. Because lung cancer today looks very different and it’s time people knew it!”
Once stubbornly low, longer-term survival for lung cancer is gradually improving. In 2007, only 8% of people survived for five years or more. Now, 20% people are reaching that milestone, thanks to both improvements in early detection and advancing in treating later stage disease.
Living well with lung cancer
Mel Erwin recently celebrated her five-year cancer-versary. Mel was first diagnosed in 2020. In 2024, doctors delivered the devastating news that her cancer had returned and was now incurable. But oddly, this news didn’t hit her as hard as the original diagnosis.
“When you’re diagnosed with lung cancer, you’re uttering out of control of your life,” Mel explains.
“But it was nowhere near as shocking to me as my initial diagnosis because, being part of lung cancer community, I could see people were living, and living well, with stage 4 lung cancer. That made the most extraordinary difference and that’s why I wanted to be part of this campaign.
“Before my diagnosis, I had what I think is a lot of people’s picture of lung cancer. I had a grandfather who smoked 40 cigarettes a day. I remember he walked down the stairs carrying an oxygen tank and he could barely breathe. That’s what I thought it was like to have lung cancer.
“But my reality is very different to this. I’m fitter now than I was before my diagnosis, and I’m living a near-normal life with few symptoms.”
Changing perceptions of life with stage 4 lung cancer
In September, Mel along with partner Sarah, completed Sir Chris Hoy’s Tour de 4 cycling challenge which too aims to change the perception of life with stage 4 lung cancer.
“Mel is a shining example of how much things have changed,” continues Paula.
“The way we treat lung cancer has come such a long way. Catch it early and the aim is to cure whilst advances in treatment now mean more people like Mel can live well for much longer with all forms of the disease.
“There’s no denying that a lung cancer diagnosis is devastating, and it’s completely understandable that people feel terrified But it doesn’t mean the end. This is Lung Cancer show people what it’s like to have lung cancer now, not that of tales gone by. And now there is a lot of hope and life to be lived.”
Get involved with This is Lung Cancer
This is Lung Cancer launches on 1 November and runs throughout the month. Click here to see the campaign and ways to get involved.