Louise Kuchel, a 51-year-old, apparently healthy, never-smoker woman, had a cough constant for a long time, according to her: “It wasn't even important, it was in the background, but I thought it best to check”. According to doctors, the probable causes would be reflux or some irritation in the throat.
However, the possibility that no one considered was that of lung cancer, mainly because this woman had never smoked and led a life considered healthy. But last year, Louise was the victim of severe pain in her rib, which led to more tests.
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These new tests identified that she had stage four lung cancer, which had already spread. According to the doctor, the disease was incurable and inoperable. She says “it's devastating (…) It turned my life and that of my family upside down. I too am devastated by the lack of knowledge and stigma. Considering it's our biggest killer, how does nobody know about it?"
O cancer lung disease is associated with male smokers. However, given that in today's society the number of smokers is decreasing, a new scenario has appeared: an increase in diagnoses of women who have never even touched a cigarette.
Not only that, but deaths and illness among women are also on the rise, if at a lower rate than among men. Australian statistics, for example, demonstrate that, in 1983, out of every 100,000 women, 18.2 were diagnosed with the disease and 16.7 died. In 2018, of those same 100,000, 33.7 were diagnosed and 22.7 died.
According to women diagnosed with this type of cancer, in addition to the disease itself, the problem is the stigma that comes with it. One patient said: “If I had diabetes, people would come to me. If I had breast cancer, they would run to me. [In the case of lung cancer], people take a step back and say get things in order, it's your fault.”
Currently, about 20% of patients with lung cancer are not smokers and, among these, women between the ages of 40 and 70 are more likely to develop the disease than men men.
Among the possible causes are hormones, genetics and the environment, and last year a study – which is still in its infancy and lacks the strength of proof – assessed that air pollution may be a factor determinant.
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