Lung Cancer: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment

What is lung cancer?

In lung cancer grow tumors in the lungs. In the beginning, people have little affected by lung cancer. A tickling cough, shortness of breath or chest pain are often the only symptoms. Sometimes someone coughing up blood, he is very tired or getting pneumonia again.

Because the symptoms occur so much for physicians lung unfortunately often too late. The cancer has already spread through the body and is not curable. Treatment can only slow the disease and reduce the symptoms.

More than one out of ten people with lung heals well. With them is lung cancer detected in time.

There are two types of lung cancer: the small cell type and the non-small cell type.

1. Three of the four patients have the non-small cell type. This type of tumor grows slowly and sows slowly by the body.
2. One of the four patients, the small cell type. This type of tumor grows quickly and sows quickly. There is usually a small tumor in the lung with a lot of metastases in the lymph nodes (often between the lungs or in the neck), and in other organs, such as in the bones, liver, adrenal glands, or brains.

Also, a different type of cancer can spread to the lungs. Than the tumor in the lung is not called lung cancer, but a metastasis.

What causes lung cancer?

Approximately nine out of ten people with lung cancer, the disease by smoking. Even people who do not smoke, but they are much in smoky environments, are more likely to get lung cancer.

Lung cancer is more common in people with lung disease such as asthma or chronic bronchitis, especially if they also smoke.

In addition, the risk of lung cancer is much greater if a person in contact with substances such as asbestos, nickel, arsenic and the radioactive radon gas. Radon is found mainly in loess and clay soils and in some building materials. People who work with these substances also smoke are at high risk.

Lung cancer is not hereditary or contagious. Certain lifestyle habits, such as heavy smokers, lung cancer may occur more frequently within one family.

What are the signs and symptoms of lung cancer?

What complaints lung cancer, depends on four things:

1. Where is the tumor?
2. How big is the tumor?
3. What kind of cancer do you have?
4. There are metastases?

Lung cancer may have already expanded far before you even notice. What are the symptoms?

1. You need a lot of coughing. This is usually the first symptom. Example, you may experience a tickling cough that just will not go away. Sometimes there is some blood in the phlegm coughed.
2. Coming soon shortness of breath.
3. You get always a pneumonia.
4. Your voice is hoarse.
5. You make a whistling sound when breathing.
6. You have a nagging chest pain.

You can also have more general complaints. Your entire health deteriorates. You are always tired, you poor appetite and lose weight. Also, drowsiness, headache or pain at other places in the body may be due to lung cancer. Not everyone with cancer has all these symptoms.

How is lung cancer diagnosed?

If your doctor thinks you have cancer, they will refer you to a pulmonologist. The pulmonologist will examine you physically and let your blood.

In addition, the following tests may be necessary:

1. X-rays of the lungs.
2. A bronchoscopy.
3. A PET scan.
4. Sputum: laboratory of coughed up phlegm.
5. A lung biopsy.
6. A thoracoscopy (keyhole surgery).
7. Thoracotomy: an operation in which the doctor the lung tumor or a piece of it takes away to investigate the type of tumor.

Often, other tests are needed to know if you have metastases. For example, a mediastinoscopy, a bone scan or a CT scan of the chest.

The doctor may need to check how much they can get away from your lungs. For this you get a lung function test and a lung scan.

What is the treatment for lung cancer?

The treatment of lung cancer is surgery, radiation and / or chemotherapy. In addition, different forms of pain relief are possible.

In most people with lung cancer, the disease is incurable. The treatment is intended only for them, in order to slow down the disease and / or to reduce symptoms.

People with small cell lung cancer receiving chemotherapy and occasionally surgery. In chemotherapy, you will receive medication through a drip. Helps chemotherapy, you will receive after external radiation. The tumor should be almost gone. Maybe you also get radiation to your brains, to prevent metastasis.

In case of non-small cell lung cancer is sometimes an operation as possible. In this operation, the surgeon has the tumor away. Sometimes he is also a lung partially or completely remove. After the operation is sometimes required even irradiation in order to clear away residual tumor.
Surgery is not possible, can help internal or external radiation. That reduces symptoms such as shortness of breath, vomiting blood, coughing and pain. The disease almost never heals, but sometimes remains long under control. Also treatment with laser light can reduce symptoms, and the tumor control. This treatment is called photodynamic therapy.

Some people with incurable lung cancer would prefer no treatment at all, because of side effects. Do you doubt the usefulness of treatment? Discuss this with your doctor. You can always stop treatment.

After surgery on lung cancer

If you had surgery for lung cancer? Then there is removed a part of a lung, in some people even an entire lung. Before and after the surgery, you get the guidance of a physiotherapist. It teaches you to breathe in the right way and phlegm to cough up.

After surgery, the chest on the operated side probably smaller. Maybe you breathe after the operation difficult during humid weather, extreme cold or strong winds. Also, your stamina some are less.

As with all forms of cancer, there is also a chance that in lung cancer, the disease years later comes back again.