Level of Awareness of Various Aspects of Lung Cancer Among College Teachers in India: Impact of Cancer Awareness Programmes in Prevention and Early Detection Abhishek Shankar 1 & Shubham Roy 2 & Abhidha Malik 1 & G. K. Rath 1 & P. K. Julka 1 & Vineet Kumar Kamal 3 & Keshav Barnwal 4 & Sneha Upadhyaya 4 & Rajan Singh 4 & Vivek Srivastava 4 # American Association for Cancer Education 2015 Abstract Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer mortality among men in India and incidence is increas- ing, but actually, they are largely preventable diseases. In India, advanced stage at the time of presentation is responsible for high mortality and morbidity and early detection is the only way to reduce it. The purpose of this study is to know the level of awareness of various aspects of lung cancer among college teachers and impact of awareness programmes in its prevention and early detection. This assessment was part of Pink Chain Campaign—a campaign on cancer awareness. During the can- cer awareness events in 2011–2013 at various women colleges in different parts in India, pre-test related to lung cancer was followed by awareness programme. Post-test using the same questionnaire was conducted at the end of interactive session, at 6 months and 1 year. A total of 872 out of 985 teachers participated in the study (overall response rate was 88.5 %). Mean age of the study population was 41.6 years (range 26– 59 years). There was a significant increase in the level of knowledge regarding lung cancer at 6 months, and this was sustained at 1 year. Among teachers who were just asked yes or no question, 117 teachers (13.4 %) were smokers and 241 teachers (27.6 %) were alcoholics. Magazines and newspapers were sources for knowledge in 50–60 % of teachers, whereas approximately 30 % of teachers were educated by TV and Internet regarding various aspects of lung cancer. Post aware- ness at 6 months and 1 year, Pink Chain Campaign was the major source of knowledge related to lung cancer in more than 90 % of teachers by continuous and timely update on subject. Post awareness at 6 months and 1 year, there was a significant change in alcohol and smoking habits. Major reasons for not going for check-up were ignorance (83.1 %), fear (30.1 %) and lethargic attitude (29.3 %) initially, but over time, lack of time, lethargic attitude and hesitation became important factors after knowing various aspects of lung cancer. Knowledge of lung cancer was very low among teachers. Overall awareness of risk factors, sign and symptoms, screening modalities of lung can- cer has improved in a year along with practices related to smoking and alcohol, but there was not much improvement in people undergoing regular check-ups. To inculcate safe practices in the lifestyle of people, awareness programmes such as the Pink Chain Campaign should be conducted more widely and frequently. Keywords Lung cancer . Awareness campaign . College teachers . Prevention . Early detection Introduction Lung cancer has been the most common cancer in the world for several decades. There are estimated to be 1.8 million new cases in 2012 (12.9 % of the total), 58 % of which occurred in the less developed regions. Lung cancer is the most common cause of death for cancer worldwide, estimated to be respon- sible for nearly one in five (1.59 million deaths, 19.4 % of the total). Because of its high fatality (the overall ratio of mortality * Abhishek Shankar doc.abhishankar@gmail.com 1 Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, India 2 Department of Paediatrics, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, India 3 Department of Bio-statistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS, Delhi, India 4 Pink Chain Campaign, Punarjeevan, Bihar, India J Canc Educ DOI 10.1007/s13187-015-0960-7