Waiting to Exhale: Lung Cancer at 21

Bell said when people heard about her lung cancer, the first thing they asked her is if she smoked. She always wanted to respond, “Would you feel less badly for me if I did?”

D’Amico said that although it is true that the vast majority of people with lung cancer are smokers or former smokers, 10 to 15 percent of people who are diagnosed have never smoked. There may be a genetic link in some families, but most of the time it is just bad luck.

“People think, you smoked and therefore you got what you deserved – whereas no one would say that to a breast cancer survivor. Or colon cancer. Or almost any other kind of cancer,” he said. “When you have lung cancer it is somehow your own responsibility, which isn’t fair. They think this disease is a self-induced problem.”

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/11/02/waiting-exhale-lung-cancer-672713072/