Jennings Announces He Has Lung Cancer
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: Thank you so much, Anderson. Good evening. Welcome. Glad to have you with us tonight. In just a minute, the latest on preparations for the pope's funeral, and the unbelievable story of an American nun in Brazil who was murdered because she fought for the poor. But we begin tonight with the news that ABC anchor Peter Jennings has lung cancer. Since 1964, Jennings has covered the world, first and foremost as a journalist, and for the past 22 years as anchor for ABC "World News Tonight." At a time when NBC's Tom Brokaw and CBS's Dan Rather have stepped aside, Jennings is still on the air, but he was also a smoker for quite a few years.</s>ZAHN (voice-over): This year, every year, roughly 160,000 Americans will die from lung cancer. It's the leading killer among cancers, claiming more lives every year than breast, prostate and colon cancer combined. 82 percent of lung cancer deaths are blamed on smoking, 82 percent. And Peter Jennings was a smoker.</s>PETER JENNINGS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, I was a smoker until about 20 years ago, and I was weak, and I smoked over 9/11. But whatever the reason, the news does slow you down a bit.</s>ZAHN: There have been a number of famous smokers who died from lung cancer: Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, Harry Reasoner, as well as Walt Disney, John Wayne and Yul Brynner. Because lung cancer is usually well advanced before it is detected, just one in five victims lives for more than five years after being diagnosed. But Jennings says he plans to continue anchoring ABC "World News Tonight."</s>JENNINGS: I have been reminding my colleagues today, who have been incredibly supportive, that almost 10 million Americans are already living with cancer and I have a lot to learn from them. And living is the key word. The National Cancer Institute says we are survivors from the moment of diagnosis. I will continue to do the broadcast on good days -- my voice will not always be like this. To be perfectly honest I'm a little surprised at the kindness today from so many people. That's not intended as false modesty. But, even I was taken aback by how far and how fast news travels. Finally, I wonder if other men and women ask their doctors right away, okay, doc, when does the hair go?</s>ZAHN: We're rooting for you, Peter. Joining me now, senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, it had to be so tough for him to share this with us publicly. Peter did not divulge the stage of his disease, but what we do know, when have you stage one lung cancer, it can be treated through surgery and is usually curable. He's going to be treated with chemotherapy. What does that suggest to you?</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a couple of things. Again, as you mentioned, we don't know the stage of his lung cancer. It could mean either the lung cancer is not as advanced, or it could mean that it's more advanced. The reason is, if someone doesn't have a particular advanced lung cancer, a lot of times going to get surgery first to try to remove the localized tumor. More advanced cancer, sometimes they give chemotherapy first. It is really hard to say based on that alone, Paula.</s>ZAHN: How treatable is lung cancer if found early?</s>GUPTA: You know, it's interesting. We have done a lot of homework on this. They haven't made particularly great strides in the treatment of lung cancer, not over the last 10 years. If you look at everybody that has lung cancer, about six out of 10 people will die within the first year, and within a couple of years, seven or eight out of 10, so not great. Some of the symptoms of lung cancer more well known. Coughing, some shortness of breath, pressure in the chest sometimes, fatigue, all those sorts of things can happen. But it can be very difficult to diagnose, and that's the hard part, Paula, because a lot of patients are caught late in their diagnosis of lung cancer.</s>ZAHN: Peter made reference to the weakness of his voice tonight and said it's not always going to be like that. But he also went on in his e-mail to his colleagues to expand on the idea, we heard him say on the air, where he said almost 10 million Americans are living with cancer. I'm sure I will learn from them how to cope. How might the chemo treatments slow him down?</s>GUPTA: They are probably going to slow him down. I mean, chemo -- it's a toxic medication. It has a purpose, which is to try to kill these cells, but in the process, unfortunately, it kills other cells, as well. Sometimes it can cause side effects. These are well-known. Sometimes changes in blood pressure, they can cause diarrhea, they can cause hair loss, they can cause sores in the mouth, as well. What happens here, Paula, is that if, you look at the tumor cells, they divide very rapidly, and the chemo sort of targets the fact that they divide rapidly. There are other cells in the body that divide rapidly as well, such as your hair, for example. The cells in your GI tract, which is why people get sick to the stomach and they lose their hair with chemotherapy, Paula.</s>ZAHN: We mentioned at the top of this piece how many people have died from lung cancer. What are the lessons to be learned from those cases and everything we know about smoking today? I know it's not going to make you too popular with the tobacco lobby out there, Sanjay, but you are a doctor first and foremost.</s>GUPTA: They know this as well, Paula. Everybody know this is. Here have you one of the most cogent, well-defined relationships ever in medicine. Smoking causes lung cancer. People know this. Don't smoke. You can't say it enough on television. You can't say it enough times period. Right now, if people listen to us, we can save more lives by people stopping smoking than anything else I will do in my entire career as a physician. It's a really important relationship. Don't smoke.</s>ZAHN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.</s>GUPTA: Thank you.</s>ZAHN: In just a minute, we change our focus. The shocking story of the killing of a missionary</s>ZAHN: An American nun murdered in Brazil.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had this price on her head for a long time.</s>ZAHN: Fighting the powerful. Dedicated to the poor and to God. Tonight, the life and death of Sister Dorothy Stang when PAULA ZAHN NOW continues.