A lung cancer diagnosis brings significant clinical and emotional challenges.¹ For many, these are compounded by stigma; judgement and blame are often linked to assumptions about smoking.²

What stigma looks like

Stigma often appears as a single, intrusive question: “Did you smoke?” For someone newly diagnosed, that question can feel like a judgement.³ Clinicians, family members and the public may unintentionally reinforce this narrative, which contributes to shame, social withdrawal and reluctance to talk openly about symptoms or seek help.³

How stigma affects care

Stigma can have serious consequences for people living with lung cancer. Fear of being judged or blamed may cause individuals to delay seeking medical help for symptoms, leading to later-stage diagnosis.⁴

For those already in treatment, stigma can increase feelings of isolation, depression, and anxiety, and make it harder to accept support.³ In clinical settings, perceived judgement by the individual can undermine trust between patient and doctor.⁴ When that trust is lost, patients may withhold important information or disengage from follow-up care⁴ – which can ultimately affect treatment outcomes and quality of life.

Voices from people with lived experience

This Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the Lung Ambition Alliance is sharing Lung Cancer, Stigma and Me, a short film series that presents patients’ experiences. Nancy, Barbara and Clinton share the internalised blame, smoking assumptions, and resulting delay in seeking help for their symptoms. These first-hand accounts illuminate how stigma reaches beyond medical facts to affect relationships, work and everyday life.

The series invites us into the lives of survivors who have faced this judgement head-on, highlighting a disparity in empathy that no patient should ever have to face. Their stories also show how perceived judgment can delay action, even when symptoms arise. The series broadens this crucial conversation by also including a forum with patients and their carers, providing a raw, unfiltered look at how stigma ripples through families, affecting the very support systems patients rely on.

Their stories remind us that there is no place for shame in a cancer diagnosis—only a need for compassion, support, and understanding. Hearing these perspectives is the first step in changing the conversation. Watch the series and join us in challenging the stigma of lung cancer.

Taking action: what helps

Addressing stigma requires changes at many levels:

• Clinician practice: training to reduce implicit bias and improve communication so patients feel heard and supported
• Public awareness: campaigns that explain the multiple causes of lung cancer and discourage assumptions
• Community support: peer networks and accessible psychosocial services to reduce isolation
• Health System policy change: earlier detection programs and equitable access to care

How you can help

• Watch and share the patient film series
• Adopt person-first language to avoid assigning blame (e.g., "person with lung cancer" instead of "lung cancer patient"; "person who smokes" instead of "smoker"). Full Language Guidance: https://www.iaslc.org/IASLCLanguageGuide
• Encourage colleagues and communities to promote early help-seeking and to support local screening and support initiatives

About the Lung Ambition Alliance

The Lung Ambition Alliance is a global coalition committed to eliminating lung cancer as a cause of death by accelerating progress in detection, treatment and care. The Alliance brings together organisations, clinicians, patients and policy makers to scale practical solutions worldwide.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a founding partner of the Lung Ambition Alliance and supports Alliance activities and awareness-raising that align with its mission to improve outcomes for people with lung cancer.