Lung Cancer
Nick Freud and Ben Hart
What is the definition of lung cancer?
There are over 200 different types of cancer in the world and lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world.
Has 5 stages; Stage 1 & stage 2 are the most difficult to be diagnosed as lung cancer because of how early it is.
leading cause of cancer death in men and women. The average lifetime chance that a man will develop lung cancer is about 1 in 13. For a woman it is about 1 in 16. These numbers include both smokers and non-smokers.
one of the most common cancers in the world. Lung cancer is the most common cancer in men and the fifth most common in women, even causing more cancer-related deaths in women than breast cancer.
What are the possible causes of this type of cancer?
lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. although there are many different types of lung cancer, smoking cigarettes puts you at higher risk for the most common types of lung cancers.
Smoking cigarettes, the incidence of lung cancer is strongly correlated with cigarette smoking, with about 90% of lung cancers arising as a result of tobacco use.
Being exposed to high amounts of radiation daily
Exposure to radon a naturally occurring gas
What happens at the cellular and molecular level?
the two major types of lung cancer are organized into NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) and SCLC (small cell lung cancer 85%) The cancer and its stages are based on weather or not the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or other organs. The lungs are ideal for tumors to grow in because the abundance of space. Due to this abundance of space,lung cancer can go a long time without being detected.
Stage 1: Cancer only located in lungs, not spread. Cancer is very hard and not detected in a stage this early. A 50-60% chance of survival in this stage.
Stage 2: The cancer gets closer to the lymph nodes. Still very hard to be detected.
Stage 3: The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. In stage 3 there is stage 3A and 3B which means the cancer was found above the collarbone and spread to the other side of the chest. Stage 3 is also one of the “advanced” stages.
Stage 4: This is the most advanced stage which means that both lungs have been compromised by the cancer. This stage could also be caused from the cancer spreading to other organs such as the liver.
What are the symptoms of this cancer? how does it impact the people it affects?
The symptoms of lung cancer all revolve around the respiratory system. As harmless as a small cough might be, leave it untreated and you could be dealing with lung cancer. The symptoms of lung cancer include,
A chronic cough due to the cancer irritating the lungs. Because of this frequent coughing, you could possibly get a rib in your esophagus resulting in coughing up blood.
Trouble swallowing when the cancer spreads to the lymph nodes and irritates them it leads to a very uncomfortable and irritating sore throat.
Tumors found in the lungs. because of how much space is available in the lungs, tumors have a lot of space to grow.
How prevalent is this cancer?
There are 221,200 new cases of lung cancer per year. There's 115,610 cases in men. While women are at around 105,590 cases. The death count from lung cancer was 158,040 deaths per year. 86,380 in men. While 71,660 in women. Lung cancer takes up 27% of all cancer deaths. Average age for people to be diagnosed is 70 years old.
How is it diagnosed?
Ct scan showing the hidden lesions in your lungs.
Sputum cytology
If you cough and have sputum, that sputum can be looked under a microscope to see if there are lung cancer cells
Tissue sample (biopsy)
You take extract your unhealthy cells in your skin to test for the cancer.
What are treatments? What are the cures?
Treatment for small cell lung cancer.
Usually a treatment with chemotherapy. You can't go to surgery if the cancer has spread to your lymph glands. where it is located at the center of your chest. Can also use radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is not recommended because a beam of radiation is targeted at the cancer.
Treatment for non small cell lung cancer.
You can use Chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. If your lung cancer has spread too much or it is too advanced you may have to use biological therapy. Biological therapy can cause fatigue, diarrhea, skin changes, a sore mouth, weakness, feeling sick, loss of appetite, and low blood counts
Work cited
Rosen, Leo. "What Are the Key Statistics about Lung Cancer?" American Cancer
Society. American Cancer Societ, 4 Mar. 2015. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lungcancer-non-smallcell/detailedguide/
non-small-cell-lung-cancer-key-statistics>. This sources author Leo
Rosen was a man who lost a battle with lung cancer. Leo had a goal, and it
was to help the people with lung cancer. Leo and his wife started this
organization to help people with lung cancer. The first funding Leo got was
from the American cancer society foundation. That money went straight to
the web site. The web site was made for the public eye to help understand
how anyone could get this awful cancer. Also how dangerous it is do come
across. The web site receives money and that money goes to technology
that is advancing into state of the art technology. This technology is used
to find out more about how lung cancer works and reacts.
"Diseases and Conditions Lung Cancer." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical
Education and Research, 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lung-cancer/basics/
tests-diagnosis/con-20025531>.
"The Main Treatments." Cancer Reasearch UK. Cancer Research UK, 28 Mar. 2014.
Web. 22 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/
lung-cancer/treatment/which-treatment-for-lung-cancer>.