Local Expert Says Jennings' Cancer May Be Advanced

Shop Talk ^ | April 8, 2005 | Gail Shister

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Peter Jennings' lung cancer, which he disclosed Tuesday on ABC World News Tonight, may be in an advanced stage, a local expert on the disease says.

Most patients don't have their conditions diagnosed until the cancer is "so advanced that it can't be cured by surgery, and the patient has a poor chance of long-term survival," says Rita Axelrod of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's Kimmel Center.

Details of Jennings' condition haven't been disclosed, but his hoarse voice and the fact that he isn't having surgery immediately "suggests he could be in at least stage III" of lung cancer, says Axelrod, director of pulmonary medical oncology.

In stage III, life expectancy for lung-cancer patients is 12 to 18 months, with less than 9 percent living for five years after their diagnosis, according to Axelrod.

Jennings, 66, World News anchor since 1983, shocked his ABC colleagues - and the broadcast world - by revealing in a staff e-mail Tuesday morning that the cancer had been diagnosed the previous day.

He said that he would begin outpatient chemotherapy next week, and that he would anchor when his health permits. Good Morning America's Charlie Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas of 20/20, among others, will fill in.

Jennings had planned to anchor World News Tuesday, but changed his mind late in the day due to a weak voice. Looking thin, he told viewers his news in a taped segment at the end of the broadcast.

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the United States, with roughly four out of five people who have the disease dying within five years, Axelrod says.

The five leading causes: "Smoking, smoking, smoking, smoking and smoking."

Jennings, once described by a colleague as a "relentless smoker," says he quit 20 years ago but started again during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Nightline's Ted Koppel "was always goading Peter to quit," says Bob Zelnick, chairman of Boston University's journalism department and an ABC correspondent from '77 to '98.

"Sometimes Peter was like a kid, smoking in the bathroom or stealing a cigarette in the hallway," Zelnick says. "At one point, he went to a hypnotist to try to get control of it."

The traditional course of chemo for lung cancer is in cycles of three to four weeks, Axelrod says.

Some people "actually do very well. They're able to work and enjoy life... . They only need to take a few days off at a time."

Meanwhile, the abcnews.com message board has been flooded with good wishes for Jennings, ABC News' Jeffrey Schneider says.

Jennings joined Wednesday in World News' daily 9 a.m. editorial conference call and spoke throughout the day with exec producer Jon Banner, but he didn't anchor last night.

In the wings. Though ABC has no succession plan in place for Jennings, news division chief David Westin has the luxury of a deep bench.

Gibson, 62, and Vargas, 42, already designated subs, would be on any short list. Vargas is considered a fast-tracker at the network.

Other possibilities: chief White House correspondent Terry Moran and World News Saturday anchor Bob Woodruff.

If ABC decides to go with network evening news' first solo woman, GMA's Diane Sawyer, 59, is the logical choice, says CBS Evening News interim anchor Bob Schieffer.

"I have no idea whether she would want to leave GMA, but she's always been the one I would have thought was the strongest woman anchor right now in television, and she works for ABC."

Since Tom Brokaw stepped down Dec. 1, Jennings has brought World News close to the top-rated NBC Nightly News in the Nielsen wars. (CBS Evening News remains a distant third.)

With CBS's Dan Rather having stepped down March 9, ABC is perfectly poised to make a move. Its promo for Jennings says it all: "Trust is earned."

[Petronski]

Thanks.


She was a GREAT fan of John Paul the Great, and no matter what happened to her body, she was offering her suffering for someone else. And in those months of sadness, she and my dad fell in love all over again, in their own little way.


And last weekend, she got to meet John Paul, which had to be quite a moment. ;O)

[oldvike]

I think it's great that you quit smoking. I smoke (close to a pack a day) and I hate it. I can't remember the last cig I had that I truly enjoyed. It's just something I do. Like you said, it's a habit, not necessarily an addiction.

As I get older (I'm only 33 years old -- my board name is deceiving) I get constant reminders that I'm not invincible. It seems like these days I notice how young alot of people in the obituaries section of the newspaper are. 50 doesn't seem so old to me anymore. What has affected me the most is the recent illness of the wife of one of my best friends. About 5 weeks ago she was diagnosed with signet ring adenocarcinoma of the stomach. 4 weeks ago she had her entire stomach removed. Luckily it has not been detected beyond the stomach (all lymphnodes tested negative and the CT scan was the same) Fortunately, she was one of the few people who ever get this disease who have it discovered early. In fact, her surgeon said she was the only person he'd ever seen with this type of cancer that had it discovered so early. Current prognosis with agressive chemo is 80% chance of survival.

Anyway, the reason I told you that story was because she was a 3 pack a day smoker and smoking is apparently a common cause of this type of cancer. BTW, she's only 37 years old. That really hit me hard. I think I finally realize that I have to quit smoking if I ever want to get any of the money the government stole from me (Social Security).

I don't think I can do it on my own. That drug treatment you were talking about sounds like it might help. I think I'll make an appointment next week to see my doc.

[oldvike]

BTW, good thing you quit smoking. It's tough for smokers to chase 6 year olds around.

[Scothia]

"The stench of cigarettes." Now...why did you feel compelled to put that in there?

Because they stink, and so do the people who smoke them. But since you've destroyed your sense of smell, you don't notice what everyone else does.

I don't take drugs

Ah yes, the nicotine addict's mantra. I know, I know--you can quit anytime you want to, riiiiight?

[Richard Kimball]

Believe me, you're needed. I don't want to go all harp playing or anything, but there are about a zillion churches that need people to work with kids. My daughters make cards on special occasions and take them to the local nursing home. They also make cookies (including sugar free ones for diabetics. A lot of times, when we think we're not needed, it's because we don't see the people that need us.

[processing please hold]

Dang, Maybe if I had never bought that first pack of cigarettes I would probably have saved enough for a humvee...well, downpayment maybe. What good will that have done me...I couldn't afford the gas now to make the beast move.

[cspackler]

Ask your doc their opinion on Zyban. The thing to remember is that it is an anti-depressant. It worked fantastic for me, but I have heard from others that stopping the pills too quickly can be rough.

Anyway, ask and try. It's the best thing I've done for my daughter.

[oldvike]

Thanks. Will do.

[Utah Binger]

I don't think I can do it on my own.

You can do it! I quit in 1978 when I was 37 after twenty years of smoking. One thing I did was to carry a pack in my pocket at all times. I knew that if I went to the store to buy cigs, I would certainly light up. Also in the times I went out with the boys, I would just take a cigar. Sometimes I would light it but not inhale. In about three weeks the craving suddenly left me.

[oldvike]

Did you guys' breathing noticably improve after you quit? Not to say that I'm that bad now, but I have noticed that I get out of breath alot easier than I used to (of course the extra 30 pounds I'm packing right now might have something to do with that. LOL).

[cspackler]

Noticeably, yes. Dramatically, not really. The biggest thing is to not replace the smoking oral fixation with eating. I put on on some weight when I quit, so be mindfull on that front.

The biggest lung diference is not feeling like they are on fire when I have a cold, and I do have fewer colds. That's more thatn likely the result of spending less time standing outside when it's 20 below zero for a smoke.

[Utah Binger]

Man! Can't even begin to tell you the improvement. Especially in the early morning when I used to cough up the green. It took a few weeks to really begin to notice the difference.

You can do this!

[Scothia]

But anytime a smoking thread pops up, the nasties come out from under their rocks.

This wasn't a smoking thread, it was a Peter Jennings thread--until you decided to come in flailing about and shrieking like a banshee about your so-called rights, that is. Who appointed you Minister of Tobacco Addicts Defense, anyway? I don't think that Hillary or anyone else, except your fellow diehard cigheads really give a rip what you do to yourself--since you obviously don't either.

I just shake my head. And you see how they accuse me. Just unbelievable.

Well boo hoo hoo. Now you sound like a whiny DUmmie.

[OldOldMan]

Hey, I quit in 1977 after smoking since I was in High School. It wasn`t easy-no-but I made up my mind that it had to be stopped. It is a matter of will power. Give it a try.

[Scothia]

By the way, our darling daughter is almost 6 now....

Thanks for that wonderful story! You're one of my heroes for caring more about your little girl than about yourself.

[oldvike]

Thanks guys. I'm going to do it. I'll try and remember to give you a report in a few weeks.

[GOPJ]

The prognosis is rarely ever good with this type of cancer. He may be buying only a few more weeks with chemo.

An old friend of mind was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and was given 3 months to live. That was 18 months ago. Jennings' time will be up when his time is up - same for all of us.

[Palladin]

She, I've lost so many people I love to lung cancer. I just can't stand it. My brother, my sister, several aunts and uncles, and some cousins.

I have to plead with people to stop. I don't want to see any of you FReepers dropping like flies from this preventable disease.

It's an ugly way to go, believe me.

And no, you don't have to replace one bad habit with another.Excessive drinking destroys just as many lives.

I'm not preaching, I'm pleading.

[ashtanga]

I have many negative things to say about Mr. Jennings, but not when his fate is flickering. Let him take his licks when a good prognosis is served up. Until then, I'm wishing him all the best.

[ashtanga]

For what it is worth, I quite when a hurricane blew through these parts in the late Eighties. I had never smoked more than a cig or two a day until then, by the way. The lights were out for two weeks, and each night I would have a coffin nail before going to bed. When they were gone I said to myself that if the hurricane couldn't kill me outright, the smokes weren't going to kill piecemeal. That was the last smoke of any kind I allowed myself. It wasn't difficult once I had put things into perspective.