Lung cancer: an emotional tsunami that drains the resources of 50% of patients

Hearing that you have lung cancer, the deadliest of tumors, causes an emotional “tsunami” that “takes everything,” including resources: half of patients see their income reduced due to illnessa loss that is about 20% in six cases out of ten, although it can exceed 30%.

“The economic mess is clearly great”– emphasizes the President of the Spanish Association of Lung Cancer Patients (AEACaP) Bernard Gaspard on the eve of World Lung Cancer Day, which is celebrated every year on November 17th.

There are patients who can afford things that the public system does not cover, such as travel, dermatological, nutritional or rehabilitation procedures, but others have to pay for it. take advantage of consumer loans or help from relatives

afford them.

81% have difficulty accessing medical care

Bernard, who lost his wife to lung cancer, had to deal with Psycho-oncology sessions to take on your grief and the grief of your children. Each one costs between 80 and 90 euros, although their association provides them for 55 and pays for the first ten.

Also He asked for leave to accompany his wifewho wanted to die at home in order to accompany her in the last months of her life.

The eighth report on lung cancer in Europe, The Economic Impact of Lung Cancer in Spain, shows that half of patients lose income after diagnosis; six out of ten – 20% and one out of four – more than 30%. 14.3% find it difficult to live with what they have left.

The main reason is recognition retirement due to illnessThis is followed by disability (28.3%).

As a consequence, 50.9% have to make adjustments to adapt to the new situation.such as changing plans (32.4%) or limiting leisure activities (31.5%).

Another challenge for the 81.2% of patients experiencing financial hardship is being able to afford certain treatments and care. 57.6% limited access to psychologists, physiotherapists or nutritionists.

It’s not “bad cancer”

“The first moment of diagnosis It’s like a tsunami because suddenly everything your life is based on, both professional, family and personal, disappears,” illustrates Mª Angeles Marin, Leles.

It was “devastating” for her husband and children.. “It destroys everything, takes everything in front of it. I turned my whole family’s socks up,” he recalls.

He came to see her in November 2021 during a routine check-up for her asthma, which seemed to have gotten a little worse in recent months. When his pulmonologist opened the X-ray, “he found large tumor in the upper part of the left lung. “That’s where the show started.”

Impressive because, in addition, Leles does not smoke – 80% of patients smoke or have smoked – she is female – which has a lower incidence – and her father had pulmonary fibrosis, which was expected. “Cancer didn’t even cross my mind.”he insists.

and there it was “lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR mutation in exon 21”, stage IV and with metastases

in the adrenal vertebrae, in the two heads of the femur and first in the brain, which disappeared after the first three months of treatment.

It took 20 minutes to digest. He knew little about the disease other than that “it is diagnosed very late and, unfortunately, people die within a few months.” “I thought I wouldn’t live to see Easter. My birthday is in February and I wondered if I would make it,” he admits.

They have the same resources despite the fact that she was on sick leave because her husband continued to run the family business and her job was now being done by a close friend of her son who was hired while he was on an internship.

He lives in Cadiz, close to the hospital, so He doesn’t spend money on travel either.but he sees other patients his association cares for struggling financially.

Leles ends with a resounding message: “Cancer is not bad. To get lung cancer, all you need is lungs. Please, let’s stop stigmatizing it

because smokers don’t get cancer either.

Screening is 10 times cheaper than immunotherapy

Most 30,000 cases detected annually70%, once launched, also leave their mark on the system: they account for 11% of total cancer treatment costs (2.1 billion per year), with average costs per patient of €63,245 in early stages and more 103,000 euros. when they are metastatic, according to the Spanish Association Against Cancer.

Reducing this footprint necessarily involves early diagnosis– emphasizes Luis Seijo, director of the pulmonology department of the University Hospital of Navarra.

There are no screenings in Spain yetis in principle recommended for people over 50 who smoke 20 to 30 packs of cigarettes a year or more, although these are criteria that the expert says “need to be improved.”

Seijou is one of the coordinators “Cassandra”, pilot project who have already opened 9 community centers in 4 communities, the goal of which is to confirm the viability of these programs in Spanish healthcare.

Lung Ambition Alliance, a global collaborative initiative between different organizations to eliminate lung cancer as a cause of death, estimates its cost-effectiveness to be 2,500 per QALY (quality-adjusted life years), when colorectal cancer is 2,154 and breast cancer is 15,000.

“Immunotherapy costs at least 10 times more. But it is approved, and rightly so, for late-stage treatment. The key is to decide as a society how much we are willing to pay to save a life. We are spending much more so that those suffering from this disease can live a few more months,” he wonders.