Andre Braugher died this week at age 61, just months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer, according to his spokesperson. The Brooklyn 99 and Homicide star was a private person and not much is known about his final months or health history. However, he told the New York Times Magazine in 2014 that he’d “stopped drinking alcohol and smoking years ago.” There are an estimated 130,000 deaths from lung cancer each year. Here’s what to know about the disease.
What is lung cancer, and what causes it?
Cancer occurs when cells in one’s body grow uncontrollably. Lung cancer is when that happens in the lungs, specifically, though lung cancer can metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body.
One of the most common risk factors for lung cancer is smoking, but it’s not just smokers who get the disease. Exposure to secondhand smoke, air pollution, radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas and asbestos, a fire retardant used in manufacturing, are all factors that have been linked to lung cancer. Lung cancer is typically not genetically inherited.
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer and it is the cancer people are most likely to die from, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In general, the rate of new lung cancers is decreasing, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), mainly because people are smoking less, or not starting at all.
What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
Lung cancer can be difficult to detect because often there are few symptoms in the early stages. However, there are some signs of lung cancer that you should be aware of, according to the CDC.
- Coughing that gets worse or doesn’t go away
- Shortness of breath or wheezing
- Coughing up blood
- Chest pain
- Fatigue
- Weight loss with no known cause
One unusual symptom that is also linked to lung cancer is having swollen or bigger fingers, as well as shiny skin next to the fingernail and nails beginning to curve downwards like a spoon. This is called “finger clubbing,” and while it’s not always connected to cancer, many cases of this are linked to lung cancer.
What to know about lung cancer detection
The average age of someone receiving a lung cancer diagnosis is 70; however, that may be due to their prolonged exposure to risk factors, according to Mayo Clinic pulmonologist John Costello, who spoke to the Independent about the disease. Most people get lung cancer in their 60s and 70s, but it’s possible for younger people to get such diagnoses: recently actress Kate Micucci, star of The Big Bang Theory, revealed she had cancer surgery at age 43.
New guidelines from the ACS released in 2023 are helping more people discover the disease before it progresses. Now individuals ages 50 to 80 who are either current smokers or former smokers should undergo an annual screening for lung cancer if they have a 20-pack-year history, which is defined as smoking an average of one pack of cigarettes per day for one year. Individuals should be screened with a low-dose computed tomography scan, which uses X-rays to form a complete image of a person’s lungs.
Black men and lung cancer
Race may impact whether someone is diagnosed with lung cancer, according to the ALA. Black individuals with lung cancer are less likely than white individuals to be diagnosed early, reducing the chance of effective treatment. Black men, in general, have the highest rates of death from lung cancer in the United States.
According to a November report from the ALA, Black people are 16% less likely than white patients to live for five years after being diagnosed with lung cancer because, as the research shows, they’re also less likely to receive surgical intervention and other treatment options.
A January study by the ACS made an explicit connection between cancer mortality in the Black community and racial inequities. “Racial disparities in cancer occurrence and outcomes are largely the result of long-standing inequalities in wealth that lead to differences in both risk factor exposures and access to equitable cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment,” the report said. “Ultimately, disproportionate wealth stems from hundreds of years of structural racism, including segregationist and discriminatory policies in criminal justice, housing, education, and employment that have altered the balance of prosperity, security, and other social determinants of health.”
How can we fight lung cancer?
Lung cancer is typically treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and/or immunotherapy. New treatments, as well as a push for more people to get screened for lung cancer as early as possible, are lowering the rate of death from lung cancer.
The best way to avoid lung cancer is to never start smoking, or to quit as soon as possible. The CDC also recommends avoiding secondhand smoke by making your home and car smoke-free zones. The Environmental Protection Agency also recommends that every home be tested for radon due to its link to lung cancer.