Cancer is a serious illness that turns many lives upside down. The prevention, treatment and cure of cancer are complex. For Janssen, oncology is an important area of expertise where the need for effective treatments is still very high. One of the areas in which we focus on oncology is the treatment of lung cancer.

Lung cancer diagnosis

In Belgium, just over 9600 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020¹. This makes it the second most common form of cancer in Belgium. However, lung cancer is not one single disease. It can be divided into several types, each with a different growth rate, course, and appropriate treatment^2,3. In about 20% of cases, the cancer is caused by small tumor cells that can divide and spread through the body at an extremely fast rate. In patients with this type of cancer, the risk of metastasis is therefore very high. Common symptoms of lung cancer are persistent cough, blood in the coughed up phlegm, recurrent inflammation of the airways and shortness of breath.

Lung cancer is often diagnosed late: at first, people with lung cancer often have no symptoms at all and only later they develop general symptoms such as coughing or fatigue^4,5. Most people are not alarmed by these general symptoms and do not go to the doctor. Therefore, the diagnosis of lung cancer is often made (too) late. On average, in about half of lung cancer diagnoses, the cancer has already metastasized. The chance that a person with lung cancer will be alive 5 years after diagnosis is therefore low: only 18.1% is still alive 5 years after the diagnosis^6,7. Fortunately, this percentage has slowly increased in recent years, but this increase is not fast enough. Therefore, we are committed to improve the chances of survival for these patients, and to enhance the quality of oncological care.

More information about Janssen

Read more about our activities in the field of oncology, such as blood cancer and prostate cancer, and about our other areas of expertise. Also follow us on social media on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to keep up to date with current developments.