February 23rd, 2010 by Peter
Cancer is a disease that forms in the cells of the body. Cancer cells are abnormal cells that reproduce to make more abnormal cells. Abnormal cells do not die when the body does not need them any more as normal cells do. This disease often occurs in the lungs of individuals who smoke; however, individuals who do not smoke may also develop cancer of the lungs.
The lung is an important organ in the body. Lungs allow humans to breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Sometimes lungs develop diseases such as asthma, emphysema and cancer.
Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Cancer of the lungs often does not have symptoms until the disease has progressed. Symptoms of this disease include: trouble breathing, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, a cough that will not go away and a hoarse voice. A person who has symptoms of lung cancer should visit a doctor. Symptoms of lung cancer are also symptoms of other various diseases or illness; therefore, a person with symptoms should visit a doctor.
Causes of Cancer of the Lungs
Many things cause cancer to develop in the lungs. Smoking cigarettes is a very common cause of developing this disease in the lungs. Tobacco smoke causes harm to cells in the lung. Tobacco smoke often causes a person to develop cancer. Individuals who are around tobacco smoke but do not smoke are also at a risk for developing cancer.
Air pollution, radon, asbestos, arsenic and other chemicals also cause cancer of the lungs. Family history also plays a role in developing this disease. A person who has a family history of lung cancer and smokes cigarettes is at an even greater risk for developing this disease. The more risks a person has for developing cancer of the lungs the more likely the person is to develop the disease.
February 11th, 2010 by Peter
True to most cases, the treatment of cancer depends on a variety of factors. Once a lung cancer has been staged, the physician and patient can now discuss between themselves treatment options that will be necessary. Patient must be well-informed of the side effects and possible outcome of a certain procedure.
Everything should be cleared beforehand to avoid regret. Other factors that are taken into account also includes the patient’s general health, medical problems that may affect treatment (such as chemotherapy), and tumor characteristics.
The characteristics of a lung tumor helps doctors separate patients into two groups: people with low risk of cancer recurrence and people with high risk of cancer recurrence.
Surgical resection is done with patients whose cancers have not yet spread beyond the lung. This is done through the following options: Thoracotomy – the opening of the chest wall for surgical procedures – and median sternotomy – surgery performed by cutting through the breastbone.
Other approaches include anterior limited thoractomy (ALT), thoractomy performed on the frontal chest using a small incision; anterioraxillary thoracotomy (AAT), thoracotomy performed on the frontal chest near the underarm; and posterolateral thoracotomy (PLT) thoracotomy performed on the back/side region of the trunk. ALT, in particular, is less invasive than standard thoractomy – that is, it involves less disturbance of the body by incisions or other intrusive measures. ALT may result in less surgical blood loss, less postoperative drainage, and less postoperative pain than standard thoracotomy.
Lately, other less invasive procedures are being performed for the removal of tumorous tissue. For example, the video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT), otherwise known as video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). This procedure uses a video camera to help envision and operate on the lung within the chest cavity. The surgical incisions made during VAT are more minor than those needed for thoracotomy or sternotomy.
However, physicians warn that VAT does not actually allow complete lung examination to identify and remove metastases that are not detected by preoperative chest X-ray. VAT is appropriate for Stage 1 and Stage 2 cancers that require lobectomy (surgical removal of a lung lobule) with lymphadenectomy (removal of one or more lymph nodes) and for peripheral (outer edge) lung tumors that can be removed by wedge resection.
Chemotherapy is the best option together with radiotherapy if the tumor is more aggressive and widespread.
Photodynamic therapy is most suitable for patients having inoperable lung cancer. This begins with the shot of a light-activated drug (e.g., photofrin/polyhaematoporphyrin, lumin). Then during examination of the airways using a flexible scope the lung tumor is illuminated by a laser that transmits light of a specific wavelength. The laser light is used to wipe out the sensitized tumor tissue.
Skin photosensitivity or light sensitivity is the side effect of PDT. The healing potential of PDT is the most exciting aspect of this therapy in lung cancer patients whose tumors are unseen on chest X-rays. The tissue-sparing effects of PDT may be particularly important for individuals with limited lung function.
Electrosurgery is performed using a needle, bulb, or disk electrode. Nd-YAG laser therapy (neodymium-yttrium/argon laser that concentrates high-energy electromagnetic radiation to destroy tissue), cryotherapy (destruction of tissue using extreme cold), and brachytherapy (treatment with ionizing radiation) are extra tumor size-reducing techniques that may be performed during bronchoscopy.
Radiotherapy – better known as radiation therapy – uses high energy radiation in order to kill cancer cells.
Cancer cells more often than not multiply quicker than other bodily tissues; they are affected by radiation which prevents cells splitting up and the formation of DNA.
Unfortunately, bodily tissues that also divide rapidly, such as the hair and skin, are very vulnerable to radiotherapy. The most side effects of this therapy include hair loss and skin disorders, such as skin redness due to blood vessel congestion; puritis, itching; desquamation, sloughing-off of outer skin layers; pain; atrophy, shrinking; increased pigmentation; edema, swelling), as well as fetal damage, increased susceptibility to infection, tachycardia (increased heart rate), changes in taste perception, anorexia (loss of appetite), malaise, nausea, and vomiting.
A good physician will discuss all the options available with their patient, as well as the possible side effects.
February 10th, 2010 by Peter
It is estimated that a non-smoker’s lifetime risk of lung cancer is 1 in 100 while a smoker’s risk is 1 in 12. Among which group of people do you belong? Are you worried that your risk of developing lung cancer is high?
Lung cancer like any other forms of cancer is a much-dreaded disease. Because it doesn’t have visible symptoms during the early stage, it is often diagnosed during the later stage of the disease when the cancer has already spread to other organs and when treatment becomes difficult and survival rate is low.
People who are likely to develop lung cancer are those who have one or more of the following risk factors.
1. Women are more prone to develop lung cancer than men are. One study shows that a gene associate with abnormal cell growth was found to be more active in women than in men whether these women smoked or not. Some research also shows that smoking women are more susceptible to the cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarettes than their male counterparts.
2. Smoking is one of the greatest risk factor of lung cancer. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. A person’s risk of developing lung cancer increases with the number of years he or she has smoked. The longer the person has been smoking, the higher is his or her risk of developing lung cancer.
3. Sad news for people who have not even puffed a single cigarette but are continually exposed to cigarette smoke; your risk of developing lung cancer rises as much as 30 percent especially if you are exposed daily to second-hand smoking.
4. Exposure to radon, an odorless gas found in water and the ground, increases a person’s risk of developing lung cancer. Radon is considered to be the second most common cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.
5. Our workplace can sometimes increase our risk of developing lung cancer. People who are exposed to carcinogens like arsenic, asbestos, chloromethyl ether and chromium compounds in their workplaces have higher risk of developing lung cancer. It is estimated that about 9,000 men and 900 women develop lung cancer annually due to workplace exposure of known carcinogenic compounds. The risk becomes even greater for people who smoke.
6. Women who undergo estrogen replacement may be at higher risk of developing lung cancer. According to researchers from the University of Pittsburg, the growth of non-small-cell lung cancer may be fueled by estrogen.
It is important that lung cancer be detected early. The symptomless early stages often mislead lung cancer patients into believing that there is nothing wrong with his or her health. Often it is already late and cancer has already spread to other areas before diagnosis is being made. Those who are well informed about the possibility and the level of their risk of developing lung cancer will be able to seek for medical check-up and professional opinion early before the disease can even spread.
February 10th, 2010 by Peter
Wikipedia gives a clear definition of lung cancer.
Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells.
Lung cancer, the most common cause of cancer-related death in men and the second most common in women, is responsible for 1.3 million deaths worldwide annually. The most common symptoms are shortness of breath, coughing (including coughing up blood), and weight loss.
Continue reading ‘What is Lung Cancer?’