Lung cancer has the second most highest mortality rate across the world, it primarily affects the lungs and then get spreads to other parts also. This blog briefly discussed about lung cancer, its associated symptoms and risk factors. Present treatment and diagnosis methods available. As this we all know that cancer has tendency to grow uncontrollably, its form cells cluster mass known as tumor. And then this tumor results in the malfunctioning of the cells and tissues in lungs. It reduces its capability to work efficiently and starts its metastasis process, that is it starts spreading to other organs and forms tumor there also. There are two types of tumor, benign tumor which is non-cancerous and remains at the place of origin, that is it does not have tendency to spread from one organ to other organ, it usually grows slower as compared to the malignant one, other type is called malignant tumor which is cancerous in nature and have tendency to spreads from one organ to other organ quickly.
There are 2 types of lung cancer
- Non-small cell lung cancer: This type is most common, approximately 85% cases are there with this type. It consist of subtypes such as, Squamous cell carcinoma, Adenocarcinoma, and Large cell carcinoma.
- Small cell lung cancer: This is the rare or less type, but the most aggressive one. It has tendency to spread quickly to other organs.
Symptoms associated with lung cancer
During initial stages symptoms are not detectable or noticeable. As disease starts developing inside, patient can experience several symptoms like, chest pain, coughing with blood, hoarseness, fatigue, weight loss, shortness of breath, persistent cough etc.
Factors responsible for lung cancer
There are various factors that promotes the risk of developing lung cancer such as,
- Tobacco smoking is the top most cause of lung cancer. It has carcinogens that damage the cells of lungs and start developing cancer.
- Exposure to second hand smoking also results in lung cancer. Many cases come in which doctors has observed that most of the patients suffering from lung cancer are non-smokers.
- Family history of having cancer or any kind of mutations in genome can results to lung cancer.
- Radon is a radioactive gas that occurs naturally gets accumulated inside homes and results in lung cancer. This is more common in the areas where people are living near chemical factories or the people who are working there without safety equipments.
- Exposure to the asbestos fibers, usually found near the construction sites in the material used for construction purpose can lead to lung cancer.
Diagnosis
Lung cancer diagnosis involves various imaging tests, like CT scans, X-rays and biopsies that are used to analyze samples from tissues and bodily fluids. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are smoking for a very long period of time, people living near industrial sites, these are the people who are under high risk of developing lung cancer, because they are living under such conditions. This screening will help in detecting their chances of having lung cancer during early stage so that preventive measures can help them to protect themselves from cancer.
Treatment
Here are several treatment approaches that are preferred:
- Surgery: This is the most common approach people adopt, as this method is used when the cancer is detected during early phase and it is not spread to other organs. Surgery helps in removing that tumor and some other infected tissues from the surrounding.
- Radiation therapy: High energy beam is used to destroy cancer cells. Some tissue surrounding that are healthy in nature, they are also destroyed in order to take precautions and reducing the chances of recurrence.
- Chemotherapy: Drugs are used to inhibit or kill the cells causing cancer.
- Targeted therapy: In targeted methods drugs are designed in such a way that they specifically target the specific mutations that are involved in the growth and survival of particular cancer cells.
- Immunotherapy: As the name suggests, It uses a combination of drugs to boost the immune system so that it can identify the cancer cells and identify them as foreign antigen and attack on them to kill them.
Conclusion
Lung cancer is the disease that currently has the highest mortality rate across the world, because it is very difficult to diagnose it during the early stage, due to lack of symptoms. By studying causes, symptoms, treatment and diagnostic methods one can take protective measures to reduce chances of developing lung cancer. Many NGOs are running campaigns to make people aware of the current scenario. If people are aware of symptoms it helps them to self- examine themselves and can seek medical help fast if needed.
