Lung Cancer
Written by admin on November 8th, 2008 in Uncategorized.
Lung Cancer
The lung cancer is one of most deadly cancers more causing up to three million deaths annually. One out of ten patients who were affected with this disease will survive only for the next five years. Previously this disease was found only in men. Now a day lung cancer can also be found in women as a result of the raising ratio of smoking habit among women. In many developing countries, public educations about the dangers of the nicotinism and the effective termination programs have contributed to the slowly falling rate. Lung cancer always remains to be the most common type of cancer among men in the whole world and the fifth most common type of cancer among women.
This fatal disease like all other cancers, results of anomaly in the basic unit of the body, the cell. Normally, the body controls and maintains balanced system on the growth of cells so that the cells divide to produce new cells only when it is necessary. The interruption in the balance of this system causes a uncontrolled division of the cells that results in tumour. Mostly cancer comes from the lining of the bronchi. Since this disease tends to be spread very early in its course, it is very danger to our life and one of the most difficult cancers to cure. It also extends to other parts of the body such as the adrenal glands; the brain, the liver, and the bone are the most common metastases.
The beginning stage of this disease cannot have any symptoms, but when the size of the tumour increases, it can produce a variety of symptoms which such as cough, chest pain, brevity of breath, spitting blood or bloody phlegm, wheezing and recurring problems with pneumonia or bronchitis, weight loss, the loss of appetite, tiredness, the giddiness or the double vision, numbness or tinkling in the arms or legs and jaundice.
The two principal types of lung cancer are small lung cells cancer and Non small cells lung cancer. The type of lung cancer is identified based on how the cells appear when they are examined. However, there are also other types. Each type develops and extends in various manners and requires various types of treatments, thus it is critical for the doctors to diagnose.
Around 13% of all lung cancers are small cell, and those tend to extend to other parts of the body. The small cell is caused by the nicotinism. It is rare to develop the small cell for someone who never smokes. The small cells can fold up quickly to form large tumours which can extend to patients’ lymph nodes and other parts of the body such as the adrenal glands, the bones, the brain and the liver.
Approximately 87% of all lung cancers are Non Small cell, of which there are three principal types. These types of Non Small Cell Lung Cancer are characterized by the size, the form, and the chemical composition of the cells which form the tumour.
There are various options of treatment available. The type of treatment depends on a certain number of factors including the type of lung cancer that the patient has, the location of the tumour, the size and the width of the tumour. The treatment of the lung cancer can comprise a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy as well as of newer experimental methods, but the prevention of the disease depends on the stoppage of nicotinism.
Surgery is carried out to remove the tumour. From time to time only part of the lung is removed, if the tumour is not too large, but if the whole lung proves to be affected, then it should be removed completely. If the surgeon can remove only one small part of the lung then the operation east know as segmental. Some types of tumours are pled to be inoperable.
In Chemotherapy special anti-cancer drugs are employed to kill the cancer cells in the body. Drugs of chemotherapy are very toxic and implying them, can have very unpleasant side effects.. Chemotherapy is employed to control the growth of the tumour and is also employed to relieve the symptoms.