What Is Lung Cancer?
Human body possesses two lungs, which are spongy structures located within out chest. The lungs take in the oxygen as we inhale and discharge carbon dioxide as we exhale. The cancer originating from the lungs is called lung cancer. In USA, the biggest share of cancer deaths are caused by lung cancer; the cancer is equally prevalent among men and women. Lung cancer takes away more lives every year than what ovarian, breast, lymph, prostate and colon cancers do together.
Lung cancer starts showing up symptoms only when the disease starts progressing. The common signs of this cancer type include:
- A cough that does not subside
- Chest pain
- Hoarseness of voice
- Wheezing
- Changes in the pattern of smoker's cough or any chronic cough
- Breathing difficulties
- Bone pain
- Unexplained weight loss
- Headaches
Depending on how the lung cancer cell appears when tested using a microscope, medical experts have divided lung cancer into two types. The procedure to be used for lung cancer treatment is decided only after determining the lung cancer type one is suffering from. These two types of lung cancer are:
- Small cell lung cancers: This lung cancer type affects mostly the heavy smokers. It is a rare form of the disease compared to non-small cell lung cancers.
- Non-small cell lung cancers: This lung cancer type includes several subtypes of the cancer; for instance large cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas. All these forms of lung cancer behave in similar manner.
What are the risk factors for lung cancer? The common lung cancer risk factors are:
Smoking: The risk of developing lung cancer augments depending on the number of time an individual smokes in a day and the length of his or her smoking life. Once you quit the smoking habit, your risk of suffering from lung cancer drops considerably.
Passive smoking: People, who do not smoke, but stay exposed to second hand smoke are also at higher risk of suffering from this cancer type.
Exposure to chemicals like asbestos and radon gas: Exposure to chemicals like arsenic, nickel, tar, asbestos and chromium at the workplace can increase one's chances of suffering from lung cancer. Radon gas produced from breaking down of uranium present in soil, water and rock mixes up with the air. Inhaling the air containing radon gas above the safe levels can increase an individual's risk of getting lung cancer.
Other risk factors: Incidence of lung cancer in a family member, excessive consumption of alcohol and having lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are some other lung cancer risk factors.
Screening for Lung Cancer
Cancer screening is done with the aim of diagnosing the disease prior to arrival of any symptom. This article will inform you about lung cancer screening. Controversies do exist regarding the fact whether screening helps individuals having increased risk of developing lung cancer. According to majority of the medical experts, a chest X-ray or a CT scan cannot pinpoint cancer in the lungs definitively. To make proper screening for lung cancer possible researchers all around the globe are trying to find out the suitable tests for successful lung cancer screening. Some of these studies have indicated that carrying out screening tests may help in detecting lung cancer in early stages. However, there are also some studies that suggest that majority of the lung cancer screening tests identify benign [...]
Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Prognosis
Non small cell lung cancer is the most commonly occurring lung cancer type that spreads and grows at the slower pace that the small cell lung cancers. In this article, we’ll be discussing about non small cell lung cancer prognosis.
Non small cell lung cancer prognosis is mostly done based on the survival rates of the disease. Let us know what does the term ‘survival rates’ mean. For example, let us define the term five year survival rate; five year survival rate means percentage of the patients living for a minimum of 5 years after being diagnosed with the cancer. Survival rate of a cancer is determined based on the response shown by large number of patients suffering from the same disease towards treatments offered to them. However, survival rate can be used only for assuming the [...]
Lung Cancer Overview
Lung cancer is the cancer type beginning from the lungs. The lungs are 2 spongy organs located within the chest; their main function is taking in oxygen as we inhale and release carbon dioxide as we exhale.
When in its early stages, lung cancer generally does not cause any serious symptom. The symptoms of lung cancer start appearing as the disease reach its advancers stage. Lung cancer overview offered by medical experts suggests that the common signs of lung cancer include the following conditions:
Cough that does not subside even after conventional treatment
Changes in the pattern of ‘smokers cough’ or any other chronic cough
Breathing difficulties
Blood in cough (the amount might vary from one patient to the other)
Hoarseness
Wheezing
Chest pain
Bone pain
Unexplained [...]
Which Lung Cancer Treatment is Most Effective?
When determining which lung cancer treatment option will be most effective your health care provider will gather a team of doctors that specialize in different areas to provide the best treatment possible. These specialists will most likely include an oncologist and thoracic surgeon among others. These specialists will all work together to determine the best treatment plan based on your individual cases and circumstances. Some of the information that will be gathered and used to create this treatment plan will include your age and basic overall health, how advanced the lung cancer is, and how many tumors are present as well as how far the cancer has spread.
Once the diagnosis of lung cancer has been made and the stage of the cancer has been determined these specialists will discuss with [...]
Lung Cancer Survival Rate
The survival rate is the term that most all medical care professionals use to describe the number of individuals affected by specific types and various stages of cancer who have survived the disease for a certain period of time after the condition has been officially diagnosed. Although the amount of time and the specific types of methods that are used may vary a great deal and be used for different purposes, the lung cancer survival rate is most commonly done in five year periods. Although there are many cases of lung cancer that very well may be very similar to each other, there are no two people that will have identical rates of survival. The rate that is used to describes several different categories that the patient may fall into. Below are some of the categories that are commonly included [...]
Is Lung Cancer Prevention a Possibility?
Although lung cancer prevention is an issue that concerns many people there are many that do not know what steps to take in order to accomplish this. It has not been definitively proven whether it is actually possible to prevent lung cancer from occurring however in some cases it may be possible to refrain from some high risk activities that may play a part in the development of this type of cancer. There are some risk factors however that cannot be avoided such as family history. Unfortunately if lung cancer is prevalent in your family without exposure to the risk factors that increases this chance there will not be much if anything that can be done in order to prevent in that particular case. There are, however other risk factors to consider that can be changed from one person to another.
There [...]
How Is Lung Cancer Prognosis Determined?
A lung cancer prognosis is a doctor’s way of attempting to predict the possible end result that may be experienced or expected in the life of a person who has been diagnosed with lung cancer. This is done by first diagnosing the disease and then determining the stage that the specific case of lung cancer has advanced to. Other factors that are considered include the age of the individual and the overall status of that person’s health. Each and every individual prognosis will be different from one person to the next based on this information. Other information that is used consists of information that is gathered by doctors from large groups of people with the same stage of cancer under the same conditions and within the same age group. A prognosis is only a prediction or educated guess [...]
There Can Be Many Psychological Effects of Lung Cancer
When an individual goes through the devastation of finding out that they have been diagnosed with having the deadly disease of lung cancer, it can be extremely hard for them to be able to deal with this type of news. It is a serious health issue that is not only hard for the patient, but it is just as hard for close friends and members of the family to receive as well. As a result, there are many cases where the patient will often end up suffering from various types of psychological effects of lung cancer diagnosis.
There are many times that a patient will end up suffering from anxiety due to the large amount of information that they are given in regards to the wide variety of testing that they will have to endure, as well as numerous treatment options that will be explained to them. Once [...]
Not Everyone Will Experience Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Symptoms of lung cancer can vary greatly from one individual to the next at what may be experienced by some by not even be a consideration in others. Because every person is different these signs that help in determining the possible presence of lung cancer may not even be present in many people that have developed this deadly disease. This creates a problem because often when there are no symptoms there is no way for a person to suspect there is a problem unless it is discovered accidentally due to other illnesses or conditions that may require consultation with a health care provider. When accident discovery of lung cancer does happen, doctors do whatever possible to make an official diagnosis as quickly as possible. This is because the sooner the cancer is diagnosed the sooner the proper [...]
How Are Lung Cancer Stages Determined?
Lung cancer is divided into different stages or levels. These lung cancer stages help in determining how advanced lung cancer is in each individual person. Once the stage is determined the information will be used to decide which treatment option will be most successful and the best choice for that particular individual. Lung cancer consists of four general stages ranging from the earliest stages to the most advanced cases of the cancer.
Stage 1
Stage 1 indicates that the cancer is limited to the lungs and has not yet spread to other areas of the body. This stage is further divided into two sublevels. In the beginning of this stage the tumor is often still quite small however by the end of this stage the tumors in some cases may be large enough to cause the partial collapse of the affected [...]
What Are Common Lung Cancer Symptoms To Be Aware Of?
Lung cancer is a serious form of cancer that affects the lungs. In some cases there are no lung cancer symptoms present in the early stages and this cancer is found often by accident when x-rays of the chest are performed in relation to other issues. In cases where symptoms are present they are usually caused by changes in the hormone levels or changes in the blood. These symptoms may also be caused by the spread of tumors to other areas of the body. Some of the symptoms that may be experienced in relation to lung cancer can include coughing up blood, difficulty breathing, chest pain and coughing. In order to determine if these symptoms may be a cause for alarm it may be necessary to take a closer look at the nature of these symptoms.
Although coughing is a common part of life for many people [...]
Deadly Facts about Lung Cancer
Every single year there are a large number of patients that lose their life because of the serious complications that most commonly arise when a person has acquired the deadly disease known as lung cancer. Sadly, there are also a countless number of individuals that receive a diagnosis of lung cancer each year. Below is a list of some very helpful information and facts about lung cancer.
Smoking cigarettes is one of the biggest causes that individuals end up suffering from this disease. As a matter of fact, as much as 87% of all lung cancer patients are due to patients that have either previously smoked cigarettes, or they currently are addicted to this harmful habit.
Every single year there are as many as 219,000 individuals that are diagnosed with this deadly disease just in the [...]
Pioneering Feat Of Genetic Mapping Of Lung Cancer And Melanoma
Researchers from Britain have made a landmark discovery wherein they were able to do the genetic mapping of two widespread cancer forms.
The mapping has unravelled the DNA mutations that cause cancers inflicting the skin and the lung, the finding of which could alter the manner of diagnosis and treatment of these ailments in the imminent future.
Cancers are the consequence of the harm done to the genes i.e., mutations in DNA which are elicited by factors that are environment-related like tobacco, exposure to detrimental chemicals or ultraviolet radiations that leads to the cells growing uncontrollably.
Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Britain along with their associates have be able to map this genetic harm from the tumours of 2 patients ailing from lung cancer and [...]
