Symptom awareness, attitudes to lung cancer and views on screening 2023/24

Overview

The Global Lung Cancer Coalition (GLCC) is an alliance of patient organisations committed to increasing awareness and understanding of lung cancer and campaigning to improve lung cancer outcomes for all.

The GLCC’s Patient Charter asserts the right of all lung cancer patients to: be treated with dignity and respect; be free of blame and stigma for having the disease and to have their disease de- stigmatised; have access to quality health care; informed self-determination; physical and mental integrity; and confidentiality and privacy.

In 2023, the GLCC commissioned its fourth multi-national study to understand attitudes towards lung cancer, levels of symptom awareness among the public and views on lung cancer screening. The study was undertaken in 29 countries:

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and USA. Responses were received from at least 1,000 adults per country.

The study sought to build on the findings from our previous studies conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2017.

Throughout 2024 we have commissioned work to dive deeper into this data to reveal more about the underlying challenges they reveal for lung cancer awareness, early diagnosis and systematic care.

Key findings

Symptom recognition

Nearly four out of ten people (37.5%) said they did not know any symptoms of lung cancer
Men were more likely to report not knowing any symptoms compared to women (40.49% 34.85%)
People aged 18-24 were most likely to report not knowing any symptoms (45.11%)
People who had never smoked were more likely to report not to know any symptoms than people who currently smoke/have smoked in the past (40.20% vs. 36.65%)
There was significant variation between countries, with the percentages of people who indicated they did not know any symptoms ranging from 80% in South Africa to 54.36% in Japan

Attitudes towards lung cancer

Over four out of ten people (42.62%) agreed with the statement ‘I have less sympathy for people with lung cancer than other types of cancer’
Men had less sympathy for people with lung cancer than women (50.38% 35.67%)
Sympathy increased with age, with nearly 50% of 18-24 year olds agreeing they had less sympathy for people with lung cancer
People who currently smoked/had previously smoked were slightly less sympathetic than people who had never smoked (43.15% vs. 42.33%)

Views on lung cancer screening

Over eight out of ten people agreed there should be a national lung cancer screening programme to help people with lung cancer get diagnosed early (84.89%)
Men and women showed nearly equal supported the need for lung cancer screening programmes (84.12% vs. 85.57%)
Support grew with age, increasing from 65% of 18-24 year-olds to 86.01% of people aged 55 and over
While both largely supportive, people who currently smoke/had previously smoked were even more supportive than people who had never smoked (86.78% vs. 82.48%)

Methodology

The GLCC commissioned the market research agency Censuswide to undertake an online survey of adults across 29 countries between 3 July 2023 – 6 July 2023. The survey samples included at least 1,000 adults (per country) and data was weighted using age, gender and region to produce a representative sample in each country. Respondents were asked the following questions:

There are many warning signs and symptoms of lung cancer. Please list as many symptoms of lung cancer as you can think of [a tick box was provided for ‘Don’t know’].
Lung cancer is mainly caused by smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: I have less sympathy for people with lung cancer than for other types of cancer?
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: There should be a national lung cancer screening programme to help people with lung cancer get diagnosed early?

The GLCC is calling on governments and health systems across the world to:

Increase recognition of lung cancer symptoms through targeted public awareness campaigns
Improve public education and understanding of lung cancer and its causes to reduce stigma
Highlight the importance of early diagnosis and treatment in improving survival to encourage more people to seek help early
Implement national lung cancer screening programme to help people get diagnosed and into treatment as early as possible.

Matthew Peters, Chair of the GLCC, believes that only ‘’concerted political action’’ can bring about effective change, tackling the ‘double whammy’ of lack of awareness and sympathy which is hampering healthcare systems worldwide in their efforts to reduce the burden of lung cancer and improve outcomes for all affected by the disease.

He said: ‘’While this research shows concerning levels of awareness of and sympathy for lung cancer and those affected by it, these findings and the clear and substantial support for a national lung cancer screening programme highlight the need for concerted political action to improve outcomes in lung cancer.’’

Read / download the global report here:

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The global report is also available as a downloadable pdf file in the following languages: