Cancer is one of the chronic non-communicable diseases whose diagnosis, treatment and management, including palliative care is costly. However, hidden away from medical scrutiny is lung cancer.

With improved technology and expertise in the medical sphere, doctors and other health-workers now say lung cancer is emerging as one of the cancers with high mortality rates in Kenya compared to other variants of the disease.

According to Dr Lawrence Atundo Murunga, who works with the multinational lung cancer control programme at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, out of 154 patients diagnosed with lung cancer at the facility within the last one year, 28 of them have succumbed to the disease.

Although lung cancer is not among the most prevalent cancer types in Kenya, the burden may be underestimated due to misdiagnosis as tuberculosis or other chronic lung conditions.

It is ranked eleventh nationally among leading killer diseases, but with a fatality rate of about 92 per cent while, globally, lung cancer cases stood at 2.5 million as per 2022 statistics, with 1.8million deaths making it the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.

Non-Communicable Disease Alliance-Kenya (NCDA-Kenya) programme officer Gideon Ayodo says lung cancer is impoverishing families due to high cost of treatment. He says the government needs a policy reset via Social Health Authority to provide health insurance cover for cancer treatment to alleviate patients’ suffering besides protecting family resources.

Dr Atundo, speaking during a workshop on initiatives in lung cancer care and the launch of a toolkit that will empower patients and caregivers with knowledge and support, said diagnosing lung cancer was not easy as it cannot be just diagnosed through clinical observation.

“Lung cancer is not a disease that can easily be diagnosed at a low-level health facility because its diagnosis is meticulous and very expensive, requiring a high-end health facility, he observed adding that the process of diagnosis requires removal of a tissue by a specialist, an intervention radiologist who is the only one who can be able to avail the tissue from the lungs and taken through a CT scan guided biopsy,” he said.

Lack of adequate professionals, he said, adds to the challenge of getting samples to test for lung cancer.

“In the entire western region, we only have two intervention radiologists making it very difficult for them to handle all suspicious cases of lung cancer on time,” he said.

Detecting cancer early can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. When diagnosed at an early stage, the chances of successful treatment become a reality, but when the cancer has advanced and spread, the chances of survival; along with quality life, may drop significantly.

Dr Atundo further said the treatment of lung cancer was holistic and not just chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or any conventional treatment.

“We are putting a lot of effort in palliative care considering the high mortality, palliative care plays a key role in ensuring the patient has a better quality of life as they go through the disease,” he said.

Kenya Hospice and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA) Executive Director David Musyoki said the initiative in lung cancer care (ILCC) programme has for the last five years been creating awareness of lung cancer as well as building capacity for healthcare workers at the primary health level to diagnose, refer and provide palliative care for patients with a diagnosis of cancer.

“The programme has also been building caregivers’ capacity to support patients, collect data for advocacy to scale up quality service, and form support groups for their psychological support.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Kiptanui Cherono