A Biopsychosocial Perspective on the Experience of Lung Cancer

Abstract

This article examines the effects of an individual's smoking status (current, former, or never-smoker) on the biological, social, and psychological aspects of lung cancer. Current and never-smokers differ in their biological risk factors, responses to treatment, and survival rate. In partial contrast, smoking status does not affect the major social aspect of the disease. The social stigma, which stems from the public perception that lung cancer is a preventable disease, affects social interactions for all patients irrespective of smoking status. The psychological aspects of the disease, including feelings of guilt, vary with smoking status. These observations point to the heterogeneity of lung cancer and underscore the complex links between the disease and smoking behavior.

KEYWORDS:

• lung cancer
• smoking status
• biopsychosocial
• meta-analysis

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Professor Margaret S. Wool at Brown University for her guidance and encouragement and Zachary Drapkin and Michelle Freier for their useful suggestions.