Overview
Today, lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in humans, although it was rare before the widespread use of cigarette machines.
Today, with almost 90% of lung cancer deaths linked to smoking and other risk factors including radon gas and environmental pollution, newly developed drugs offer new hope for patients diagnosed with lung cancer.
Smoking and lung cancer
Cigarettes contain carcinogens, and not only that, smoking disrupts the lungs’ natural defense mechanisms.
Cigarettes prevent the cilia, the “guardians” of the respiratory tract that remove toxins, bacteria and viruses, from working properly, leading to a buildup of carcinogens in the body.
Signs of lung cancer
In the early stages of lung cancer, the body often does not send out “warning signs,” and as the disease gets worse, the following symptoms gradually appear:
- Coughing constantly.
- Coughing.
- Chest pain, especially when breathing deeply, is worse.
- Shortness of breath or shortness of breath.
- Shortness of breath or shortness of breath.
- Blood in the sputum.
- Blood in the sputum.
- Blood in the sputum.
- Fatigue and weakness.
Screening for lung cancer
For some patients, a spiral CT scan (known medically as “low-dose spiral CT” or LDCT) can detect early lung cancer, but it is uncertain whether it detects it early enough to be better at saving lives.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that heavy smokers aged 55 to 80 years should have an annual CT scan, and this recommendation also applies to former regular smokers who have quit for less than 15 years.
Diagnosing lung cancer
If your doctor suspects you have lung cancer, such as a persistent cough or shortness of breath, he or she will order a chest x-ray or other imaging tests, and you may need to have a sputum cytology test.
If one of these tests suggests possible lung cancer, a biopsy will also be needed.
Biopsy
The doctor will take a small amount of tissue that is suspected of being malignant for examination, usually by puncturing it with a fine needle and then looking at it under a microscope.
The pathologist can determine if the tumor is lung cancer and, if so, what type of lung cancer it belongs to.
Two main types of pathology
Lung cancer is divided into two major categories: small cell lung cancer (abbreviated SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
- Small cell lung cancer is more malignant and can spread rapidly to other parts of the body at an early stage; it is closely associated with smoking and is rarer in nonsmokers.
- Non-small cell lung cancer is more slowly progressive and more common, accounting for about 85% of all lung cancers.
What is staging?
Stage is a concept that describes how far the cancer has spread, and there are two stages of small cell lung cancer: “limited stage” means that the cancer is only present in one lung, or has spread to nearby lymph nodes.
“Extensive stage” means that the cancer has spread to the other lung, or to other parts of the body, and the extent of spread of non-small cell lung cancer can be expressed in stages I-IV.
Early treatment
If the non-small cell lung cancer has not yet spread out of one lung, surgery may help. During surgery, the surgeon removes the part of the lung containing the tumor and, if necessary, the entire lung (the remaining lung can be kept functional).
After surgery, some patients need to receive radiation or chemotherapy to kill the remaining cancer cells, but surgery usually does not work for small cell lung cancer because it may have spread before it is diagnosed.
Advanced treatment
Treatment can still help people live longer and have a better quality of life if the lung cancer has spread so widely that it is difficult to cure completely. Radiation and chemotherapy can shrink the tumor and help control symptoms, such as reducing bone pain or airway blockage.
For small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy and radiation are often the main treatments.
New approaches to treatment
Targeted therapy: Targeted therapy may work better in patients with targets, such as EGFR, ALK, and ROS-1, which usually work by interfering with signals for cancer cell proliferation.
Also, there is an anti-angiogenic target, such as Avastin, which inhibits the formation of new blood vessels that “feed” cancer cells and thus acts as an anti-cancer agent.
Immunotherapy: Working alongside the body’s immune system to fight advanced lung cancer, it has the advantage of better survival and fewer side effects.
But once symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath occur, you should seek immediate medical examination to avoid immune-related pneumonia, for example.
Join the study
Clinical trials can help doctors explore promising new treatments for lung cancer. Consult your doctor to see if there is a particular study that is suitable for enrollment, how to enroll, and other considerations.
Smoking cessation is beneficial
Being diagnosed with lung cancer can be a bolt from the blue, and if you smoke, or have smoked before, it’s never too late to quit, and studies have shown that those who quit smoking after a lung cancer diagnosis have better treatment outcomes than those who don’t.
Secondhand smoke
Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, but it is not the only risk factor; secondhand smoke also increases the risk of the disease. The partner of a smoker is 20% to 30% more likely to develop lung cancer than the significant other of a nonsmoker.
Risky occupations
Some jobs have toxic exposures (such as uranium, arsenic, or other chemicals) that predispose to lung cancer, and asbestos, once widely used as an insulation material, is a recognized carcinogen that puts you at risk for cancer even if you were exposed to it years ago.
Radon gas
Radon gas is a natural radioactive gas released into the room from the soil and rocks of the foundation, and some decoration materials also imply them. High indoor radon content will increase the risk of lung cancer, and the risk is higher for smokers, and there are some ways to reduce the harm of radon.
Air pollution
Compared to smoking, air pollution is much less likely to cause lung cancer but still needs to be avoided, and experts believe that air pollution from cars, factories and power plants can be as harmful to lung health as secondhand smoke.
Other cancer-causing factors
- A family history of lung cancer.
- Drinking water with high levels of arsenic.
- Even without any risk factors and without having smoked, someone can get lung cancer, and researchers are not sure why. In this case, women seem to be more likely to develop it than men, and nonsmokers are more likely to develop adenocarcinoma (a type of lung cancer) than smokers.
How to prevent
Non-smoking and secondhand smoke can greatly reduce the risk of lung cancer. Quitting is hard and requires a lot of determination and persistence, and quitting is good for your whole body health, no matter how hard it is.
Co-reviewed by Dr. Bai Xiaoyan and Dr. Gao Xin of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute.