Treatments For Lung Cancer: Are These Really Effective?

Cancer, in whatever form is so scary. This condition may progress to undesirable stages. One of the cancer types that has a high risk is the lung cancer. This type of cancer has killed and is killing many people in the whole world. Hence, proper knowledge about its types, causes, signs, and symptoms are very important. Furthermore, the possible treatments for lung cancer is a thing to look out for as well. if you want to know all of these, give this article a read.

Lung Cancer?

Lung cancer is actually the number one cause of death (cancer-related) in the whole world. The main risk of this condition is smoking, not only to the smokers but also to the second-hand smokers who just inhale the smoke of those who smoke. The condition mostly affects those people during their old age. In fact, there is about 80 percent of the reported cases who belongs to the elderly -60 years old and above.

Furthermore, lung cancer is the most common variety of cancer in the whole world. As stated above, it is the leading cancer type that causes death to many people in the whole world every year. Moreover, men are more prone to it than women.

The survival rate for lung cancer is relatively lower than that of the prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer. This is since there is only about 16 percent of cases that are being detected in the early stages. Furthermore, the screening facilities for the condition are widely available for those people who have high risks in developing the condition. It helps them in reducing the mortality rates since the disease is diagnosable in the earlier stages.

What Causes Lung Cancer?

It is understood that lung cancer is the constant growth and the manipulation of the abnormal cells in one or both of the lungs. These speedily divide and may form tumors. Here are some of the causes of the condition:

Industrial exposure to uranium, arsenic, coke, and asbestos.
Getting excessive exposure to radon (radioactive gas).
Smoking –this is the main reason for lung cancer.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Lung Cancer?

Below are some of the early signs and symptoms of the condition:

Hoarseness
Bones and joint pain
Dizziness
Headaches
Losing weight even without exercise and diet
Wheezing
Running out of breath
Feeling nauseous
Vomiting blood
Changes in a chronic cough
Chest and cough pain

The condition doesn’t really come with any certain signs and symptoms in its initial stages, which may be a good help in diagnosing the condition. These symptoms can easily be confused with some other respiratory conditions. If you know that you are at a high risk of experiencing any combination of the symptoms of lung cancer, immediately consult your doctor.

What are the Types of Lung Cancer?

There are actually two (2) types of lung cancer, the Non-small cell lung cancer, and the small cell lung cancer.

NSCLC or Non-small cell lung cancer: this is probably the most common type of lung cancer. This actually contributes to about 85 percent of the lung cancer that many people experience in the whole world. Furthermore, this type of lung cancer is also divided into three types, based on what type of cell is present in the tumors.

Large cell carcinoma: this is actually the least common type of NSCLC. This also has a tendency to spread to some distant sites like the lymph nodes.
Squamous cell carcinoma: this cancer actually arises from the center of the lungs. Moreover, it also forms a cavity when it spreads through the lungs
Adenocarcinoma: this is usually associated with smoking. This type of NSCLC arises from the outer part of the lungs and has a tendency to spread to the lymph nodes.

SCLC or Small cell lung cancer: this is probably the most aggressive type of lung cancer. it actually contributes about 10-15 percent of the detected lung cancer worldwide. The cancer cells speedily grow. Furthermore, this type of lung cancer is mainly because of smoking.

What is the Lung Cancer Stages?

NCLC Stages

Stage 1- the cancer is present in the lungs only.
Stage 2- cancer has already developed in the nearby lymph nodes.
The Stage 3- cancer has already developed on the same or opposite side of the lungs and the lymph nodes
Stage 4- the cancer is now in both lungs, the fluid near the lungs, and in the liver as well.

SCLS Stages

Limited stage- cancer is present on one side and nearby lymph node.
Extensive stage- cancer is in some other areas of the respiratory system and other parts of the body.