Fredrick Chite Asirwa: Lung cancer awareness month, some lessons from my Kenya cohort

Fredrick Chite Asirwa, Principal Investigator at the International Cancer Institute, shared on LinkedIn:

“Lung cancer awareness month, some lessons from my Kenya cohort:
1. Most don’t have a smoking history
2. Women and Men are affected equally
3. Most, seen in tuberculosis clinics and not referred
4. Most visit health facilities 10-14x before diagnosis
5. Most see Healthcare professionals before diagnosis
6. Most diagnosis in stage 4
7. Common symptoms/ cough, shortness of breath, chest pains and bone pains. Some- hemoptysis
8. Interventional radiology guided biopsy not easily available and expensive, bronchoscopy too.
9. Few receive immunotherapy; Chemo still mainstay prescription
10. Lack of awareness in both Patients’s and Healthcare professionals HUGE!”

Source: Fredrick Chite Asirwa/LinkedIn