NewsIn memory
Peter Jennings' Public Lung Cancer Diagnosis and What Lung Cancer Really Is
ABC anchor Peter Jennings told viewers about his lung cancer on the air. Here's what lung cancer is — and why his openness mattered.
A plain-language summary based on public reporting and trusted sources, linked below.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
What he told his audience
Peter Jennings anchored ABC's World News Tonight for more than two decades. On April 5, 2005, he told his ABC News colleagues he had lung cancer, in a message that was quickly reported and became public the same day.
What he wrote was short and unsentimental. "Yes, it was quite a surprise," he said in the email to staff. "As you all know, this is a challenge. I begin chemotherapy next week. I will continue to do the broadcast." He added: "There will be good days and bad, which means some days I may be cranky and some days really cranky!"
He also turned outward. "Almost 10 million Americans are living with cancer," he wrote in the same message. "I am sure I will learn from them how to cope with the facts of life that none of us anticipated."
ABC News reported he was a former smoker who had quit years earlier. He died in August 2005 at age 67. His family said he "died with his family around him, without pain and in peace."
The subtype of his cancer was never made public. This page will not guess. It will explain what the two subtypes are, because they are genuinely different diseases.
Two lung cancers under one label
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) divides lung cancer into non-small cell and small cell disease.
Non-small cell lung cancer is the larger share. It includes adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. It tends to grow more slowly and is often treated with surgery when caught early.
Small cell lung cancer accounts for roughly 15% of lung cancers. It is strongly tied to smoking history. NCI also lists occupational exposures to asbestos, arsenic, and chromium, plus radiation, air pollution, and family history.
Why small cell behaves differently
Small cell lung cancer grows fast and spreads early. By the time it is found, it has usually traveled. Surgery is rarely the answer.
It can also cause paraneoplastic syndromes. These are problems caused by hormones the tumor releases, not by the tumor's bulk. NCI names two. One is inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion, which drops blood sodium and can cause confusion. The other is Cushing syndrome, from excess cortisol.
Typical symptoms are a worsening cough and shortness of breath. NCI also lists chest pain, hoarseness, weight loss, and coughing up blood.
Only two stages here
Small cell lung cancer does not use the usual four-stage system in practice. It uses two categories.
Limited-stage disease is confined to one side of the chest, the mediastinum, or the lymph nodes above the collarbone. NCI reports that roughly 30% of patients have limited-stage disease at diagnosis.
Extensive-stage disease has spread beyond that.
What treatment looks like
Chemotherapy is the foundation. NCI states that platinum plus etoposide is the most widely used standard regimen.
For limited-stage disease, radiation to the chest is added. NCI reports that adding thoracic radiation increases absolute survival by about 5% over chemotherapy alone.
Radiation to the brain is also considered, even when no brain tumor is visible. This is called prophylactic cranial irradiation, usually 25 Gy given in 10 sessions. NCI reports that it raised three-year overall survival from 15% to 21%.
Immunotherapy has now entered this space. The ADRIATIC trial tested durvalumab after chemoradiation for limited-stage disease. Median overall survival was 55.9 months, against 33.4 months with placebo. NCI describes it as the first new treatment for limited-stage disease in more than 35 years.
The overall picture is still hard. NCI puts five-year overall survival for small cell lung cancer at 5% to 10%. Limited-stage median survival runs 16 to 24 months, with about 14% alive at five years. Extensive-stage disease carries a worse outlook again, though NCI does not attach a single median to it. Those are group figures from past cohorts, and they predate the newest drugs.
Get a chest scan if this is you
See a clinician promptly for any of these:
- A cough lasting more than three weeks, or a smoker's cough that has changed in sound or frequency
- Coughing up blood, even a single streak
- Chest or shoulder pain that is worse on deep breathing
- Hoarseness lasting more than three weeks
- Breathlessness on stairs you used to climb without thinking
- Unplanned weight loss, or new bone pain
Seek same-day care for sudden severe breathlessness, or for confusion in someone with a known lung problem, which can signal low blood sodium.
Who qualifies for screening
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose recommendation CDC relays, advises yearly low-dose CT screening for people who meet all three of these:
- Age 50 to 80
- A smoking history of 20 pack-years or more
- Currently smoking, or quit within the past 15 years
A pack-year means smoking an average of one pack per day for one year. Two packs a day for ten years is 20 pack-years.
The evidence is solid. NCI reports that the National Lung Screening Trial cut lung cancer deaths by about 20% compared with chest x-ray. The European NELSON trial found a similar 24% reduction.
The harms are real too. NCI reports a false-positive rate of 24% at the first scan. CDC also lists overdiagnosis and radiation exposure from repeated scans.
Quitting still changes the arithmetic
This is the part worth carrying away, and it applies at any age.
NCI reports that people who quit between ages 25 and 34 live about 10 years longer than those who keep smoking. Quitting between 35 and 44 adds about 9 years. Between 45 and 54, about 6 years. Between 55 and 64, about 4 years.
Quitting before age 40 lowers the chance of dying early from a smoking-related disease by about 90%. Quitting between 45 and 54 lowers it by about two-thirds.
And it still matters after a diagnosis. NCI states that, for some cancers, quitting at the time of diagnosis may reduce the risk of dying by 30% to 40%. It also improves healing, improves response to therapy, and lowers the risk of pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Free help exists. Smokefree.gov offers quit plans and text programs. The NCI Smoking Quitline is 1-877-44U-QUIT, or 1-877-448-7848.
Sources
- https://www.cancer.gov/types/lung/hp/small-cell-lung-treatment-pdq
- https://www.cancer.gov/types/lung/hp/lung-screening-pdq
- https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/cessation-fact-sheet
- https://www.cdc.gov/lung-cancer/screening/index.html
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/media-jan-june05-jennings_04-05
- https://abcnews.com/US/peter-jennings-dies-67/story?id=1015438
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Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to Lung cancer. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.