Lung cancer is a relatively common malignancy of the respiratory system, and there are many types of it, mainly divided into small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. These two types of lung cancer are further divided into many different types. Small cell lung cancer is relatively rare, accounting for about 20% of the overall types, and non-small cell lung cancer is the more common, accounting for about 80%.
Some of the more common types of non-small cell lung cancer include squamous carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large cell carcinoma, with phosphor carcinoma being more closely associated with smoking and adenocarcinoma occurring mostly in women. In terms of severity, small cell carcinoma is the most malignant, followed by adenocarcinoma, and squamous carcinoma is the least malignant. Small cell carcinoma is very likely to metastasize in the early stages with lymphatic vessels, adenocarcinoma is likely to spread with the bloodstream with brain and bone metastases, and squamous carcinoma is the least malignant, progresses slowly, and usually does not metastasize until late stages.
Regardless of the type of lung cancer or the level of malignancy, early treatment is the only factor in curing lung cancer, and even squamous carcinoma, which is relatively less malignant, can be difficult to cure if it progresses to the middle or late stages. Therefore, it is recommended that patients should have frequent medical checkups and stay away from factors that can lead to lung cancer in general, and if they are found to have lung cancer, they must undergo surgery as early as possible.