According to new research published in Psycho-Oncology, patients with COPD are not aware of their increased risks of lung cancer and may overlook cancer symptoms, COPD News Today reports.
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The study found that participants were unaware of the increased lung cancer risk associated with COPD. They often attributed new chest symptoms to external factors such as the weather or to COPD itself.
The researchers recommended campaigns to raise awareness about this risk since early lung cancer detection and diagnosis can result in 6 out of 10 of these cancer patients surviving the disease for five years or longer, according to statistics from Cancer Research UK, whereas 5 out of 100 patients survive if diagnosed at later stages of the disease.
