One in 10 Australians believe people with lung cancer deserve what they got, and more than a third say these patients only have themselves to blame, new research shows.
The confronting lack of empathy towards lung cancer patients has been revealed through a national survey commissioned by Lung Foundation Australia.
While smoking is the predominant cause of lung cancer, the stigma attached to the number one cancer killer is "entirely" undeserved, says Dr Emily Stone, a respiratory physician who runs a lung cancer clinic at St Vincent's Hospital.
"You wouldn't wish cancer on anybody in any form," said Dr Stone.
"Smoking causes many, many diseases but the only one that has stigma is lung cancer," she said.
Dr Stone, who is also a tobacco control committee member for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, says nicotine is highly addictive and the tobacco industry is to blame for much of the suffering caused by cancer.
"It's actually nobody's fault if they get addicted to a very addictive drug," Dr Stone said.
It's a statement supported by Cancer Council Australia CEO Professor Sanchia Aranda.
"We shouldn't be blaming smokers. We should be firmly putting our efforts behind the exposure of the industry as really just evil. They've known for over 50 years that their product kills and they continue to market it, particularly to kids," Professor Aranda told AAP.
Professor Aranda has renewed calls for the federal government to re-invest in "hard-hitting" tobacco public awareness campaigns to help reduce smoking rates. She says the health impact on smoking is just not getting through.
Smoking has been linked to 16 different types of cancer, including kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, cervix, colon, and rectum, as well as acute myeloid leukemia. It's also a known cause of heart disease and other respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
However the latest national drug survey showed only 44 per cent are motivated to quit for health reasons, says Prof Aranda.
"The knowledge that two out of three smokers will die of smoking related illness and on average will lose 10 years of their life is just not being understood by the general public," she said.
Heather Allan, CEO of the Lung Foundation, is also calling for people to think twice before judging lung cancer patients - because it can strike non-smokers.
"We don't lay blame or judgement on people diagnosed with other cancers or chronic health conditions that can be caused by lifestyle choices," said Ms Allan.
The data shows one in three women and one in 10 men with lung cancer have no history of smoking.
The assumption that people who smoke only get lung cancer is not only false but dangerous, says Professor Aranda.
"It means that people who get lung symptoms who are not smokers probably don't act fast enough."
