Cancer is a disease in which certain body cells don’t function right, divide
very fast and produce too much tissue that forms a tumor. A leading cause of
cancer deaths in both men and women is probably lung cancer. This is the number
one cause of cancer deaths surpassing breast cancer as the leading cause of
deaths in women. Cancers that begin in the lungs are divided into two major
types, the non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer depending on
how the cells look under a microscope.

Cigarette smoking is known to be a cause of lung cancer. The risk of
developing the disease increases with the number of cigarettes smoked
particularly if the person starts to smoke at a young age. The person’s risk of
developing lung cancer may be reduced slightly if you smoke filtered and low tar
cigarettes, but it is still far greater than that of a non-smoker. Lung cancer
has always been more common in men, particularly those over the age of 40, as
more men used to smoke than women. Considerably, there are a growing number of
women having lung cancer since women have started smoking. About 90% of all lung
cancer deaths among women are from smoking. The risk of lung cancer goes down
quite quickly if the person stops smoking and after about fifteen years, the
person’s chances of developing the disease are similar to that of a non-smoker.
Passive smoking or the breathing in other people’s cigarette smoke, slightly
increases the risk for lung disease and lung cancer,
although the risk is still much less that if you smoke yourself.
Usually, the symptoms of lung cancer do not appear until the disease is in an
advanced stage. Some are diagnosed early because they are found as a result of
tests for other medical conditions. Screening examinations are done to detect a
disease in people without symptoms of the disease. And since lung cancer usually
spreads beyond the lungs before causing any symptoms, an effective screening
program to detect the cancer early could save many lives. So far there is not
screening test that has been shown to prevent the ill person from dying of the
cancer. It has been concluded that the tests could not find many lung cancers
early enough to improve a person’s chances for a cure. Because of this, lung
cancer screening is not a routine practice for the general public or even for
people at increased risk like smokers.
Symptoms of lung cancer could be continuing cough or change in a long-standing
cough; a chest infection that does not get better; increasing breathlessness;
coughing up blood-stained phlegm; a dull ache or a sharp pain when coughing or
taking a deep breath; and loss of appetite and loss of weight. If you think you
are having any of these above stated symptoms, then it is important to have your
condition checked by your doctor even if you know that any of these symptoms may
be caused by illness other than cancer.
Treatment for lung cancer could be through surgery, radiotherapy and
chemotherapy which may be used separately or together depending on what your
physician requires you to undergo with. Basically, the doctor will plan your
treatment, taking into account your general health condition, the type of lung
cancer you have and the size of the tumor as well as its stage. There are
differences in the treatment for different people depending on their needs. You
should not be afraid to ask your doctor and it often helps making a lot of
queries about the disease and your condition from your doctor.


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