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."

[johnb838]

whats zyban?

[walden]

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I can't quit now either, but I've always smoked very low tar cigarettes, and I'm down to a pack a day now, very much hoping and planning to cut to half a pack when my youngest leaves for college. If I can do that, and stay at that level, I'm thinking that maybe I don't have to completely quit-- I hope so anyway. But quitting altogether is just too hard, and when I did (for over a year), I gained 30 pounds.

Anyway, hang in there, and best wishes to you!

[johnb838]

secondhand smoke. your grandparents killed her.

[dfwgator]

God loves Peter Jennings just as much as He loves me.

And there but for the Grace of God, go I.

[johnb838]

Its much better to point to the 50 year olds.

thats a better propaganda spin, eh?

[dfwgator]

Thankfully this thread has been much more "Christian" than some of the other Jennings threads on FR. I hope we can keep it that way.

[johnb838]

nazi.

[RoseofTexas]

Prayers lifted up for his salvation!

[johnb838]

i just love how we can come together on fr and not wish ill on those with whom we disagree.

[sinkspur]

It scares me but it doesn't make me see how I can successfully quit at this time.

Do whatever it takes. Seriously. You do NOT want to die this way. Two uncles died of lung cancer and my aunt said she had to give a friend his guns so that one of them wouldn't kill himself, he was in such pain.

[cspackler]

Zyban is actually another marketing name for Welbutrin, an anti-depressant. They found out that a cool side effect of the drug was that it makes cigs taste like absolute dog crap. Believe me, after a few days you take a drag and have to fight the gag reflex. Anyway, the FDA approved it as a stop-smoking drug. It makes you happy while you quit.

I had great success with it (doctor prescribed, of course), others have not. You have to be careful about tapering off the drug when you quit, or you turn into a real a$$hole...

[Godebert]

"To all FReepers who smoke: PLEASE STOP NOW!!!"

You have to die of something. Might as well be from something you enjoy.

[Semper Paratus]

Back in the '60s I remember several time my father would say :
"Poor so-and-so. They operated on his chest and then closed it right back up!"

[SheLion]

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."

Things we can (legally) enjoy in life today are getting scarce.

I enjoy smoking.  It's legal.  We take our chances.  At least I am not OBESE!

Thanks for your concern.

[johnb838]

Don't you get it? It's too freaking late for me, was a long time ago, and there isnt anyone that's going to particularly miss me anyway, I mean no one that needs me, so... He will take them when He's ready, i.e., give me the mind and heart to quit, or else they will be my downfall and my sorrow, but I will NOT fall away from Him..

[processing please hold]

After all, I quit every night when I go to bed.

Me too. But, my home has been smoke free for nearly 4 years come October.

[SheLion]

Smoking cigarettes is the dumbest thing anyone can do. It robs you of your quality of life and steals precious years from time that could be enjoyed with the grand kids.

Listen, lots of things in life are dumb!  For instance:  I would never have unprotected sex.  I am not gay.  I never physically abused anyone.  I'm a lover not a fighter.

Smoking NEVER robbed me of a quality of life.  Steals precious years?  How long do you want any of us to live? Forever?

No, we don't "lecture" those of you about smoking.  We lecture yes, when "those of you" trash and bash us because we enjoy a LEGAL product.

I'm sure YOU have habits that "I" would find disgusting!  Get over yourself.

[Lexinom]

Just as there are different types of lung cancer - and I strongly suspect the kind Jennings has is the one that doesn't even use the I-IV staging - there are different ways to enjoy tobacco. Some are more risky than others. Inhaling smoke into the lungs is indeed risky. Enjoying a fine cigar or a pipe is less risky. It doesn't have to be all one way or the other.

[Graymatter]

Blaming cigarettes for the death of an 80 year old man isn't going to sway many smokers to give up the habit. Its much better to point to the 50 year olds.

Jacques Brel died of lung cancer, I think at age 49.

[ladyrustic]

FYI Smoking is hands down worse on one's health than being overweight. Smoking seriously affects the heart and lungs. Being fat causes adult onset diabetes. Neither is good, but smoking is much worse.