In U.S, the leading cancer killer in both men and women is the lung cancer. It surpassed the breast cancer in 1987 and became the leading cancer of deaths among women. The number of deaths among women due to lung cancer is rising day by day after the pleading of deaths among men.
Lung Cancer Risk Factors
The thin microscopic fibers are present in the group of Asbestos. These fibers are heat and fire resistant, chemicals and do not conduct electricity, the mining has taken place in Asbestos and widely used in automotive, construction and other industries.
An inflammatory condition of lungs that can cause shortening in the breath and ultimately defacing the lungs that make it breathe harder.
Rare cancer has affected the lining of the lungs, the cavity in the chest or abdomen known as Mesothelioma.
The number one risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco though people who do not smoke can develop lung cancer.
If you have developed a habit of smoking for years then it is most difficult to quit. But sometimes, quitting can save you from lung cancers or other types of cancers as well.
The tiny fibers get released into the air if products containing asbestos gets disturbed. When they go inside the respiratory system, the tiny fibers gets trapped inside the lungs and remains there for many years.
They get accumulated for time and leads to serious health problems.
Gender Differences
The diagnosis of lung cancer may take place in men every year but more women live with the disease. Over the past 37 years, the rate of new lung cancer cases has discarded for men (about 28% decrease) and it has risen for women about 98%.
Symptoms of Asbestos Lung Cancer
The most common site of asbestos exposure symptoms is the respiratory tract. The symptoms differ according to the problem. The main symptom is the shortness of breath while other symptoms include:
- Repeated cough that generates mucus
- Tightness in Chest
- Appetite loss
- Coughing
- Loss in Weight
- Continuous Chest Pain
- Anaemia
- Swelling and Pain in the abdomen
- Abnormalties in blood clotting
- Fever
How to Diagnose Asbestos Related Problems
This process may take some time. The beginning of the diagnostic process takes place with the physical exam and medical history.
The doctor will ask you about the history of asbestos exposure and other medical problems. The Doctors may order test depending upon the history like X-ray of the abdomen or chest, tests of the functioning of lungs, CT scans, and MRI.
Stages of Lung Cancer
The staging can be involved in the evaluation of the size of cancer, presence or absence of passages in other organs or lymph nodes of the person. Staging helps in determining the type of treatment that the person will receive and in the estimation of prognosis.
In order of severity, NSLC lung cancers are given Stages from 1 to 4:
Stage 1: In this stage, cancer has remained in the person’s lung.
Stages 2 and 3: cancer reaches the person’s chest with larger and forwarding tumors which is classified in Stage 3.
Stage 4: The lung cancer has increased from the person’s chest and reaches the other parts of the body.
On the other hand, SCLC lung cancer is staged into two tiers:
- Tier 1: It is limited and the lung cancer has remained only to the chest area of the person.
- Tier 2: It is an extensive stage as it starts the extension of lung cancer from the chest to other parts of the body.
Rates of Survival
17.8 percent is a five-year survival rate of lung cancer which in turn lessen than other leading sites of cancer such as 65.4 percent of a colon, 90.5 percent of breast and 99.6 percent of a prostate.
When a disease is still localized means exist within the lungs, the five-year survival rate is 54 percent for detected cases.
At an early stage, only 15 percent of lung cancer diseases can be diagnosed. The survival rate for distant tumors is only 4 percent which can spread to other parts of the body.
By the time of diagnosing, more than half of people may die within one year.
Treatment of Lung Cancer
The type of lung cancer determines the type of treatment. The treatment for non-small lung cancer is very different from small lung cancer:
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Small Lung Cancer
The most common treatment of this type is Chemotherapy. The person can go for surgery if cancer has not spread to the middle of the chest in the lymph glands.
But, this is very rare in case of small lung cancer. It usually spreads during the time of diagnosis.
So, the main treatment is Chemotherapy. Moreover, the Radiotherapy is the most common to treat this type of cancer.
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Non-Small Lung Cancer
The common treatments are chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy or in some cases, the combination of these are adopted. Advanced lung cancer is also treated with biological therapy for most people.
How the planning of Treatment takes place?
The cancer specialist looked for the number of factors that helps in the type of treatment. Some of them include:
• The type of lung cancer
• Location of cancer, i.e. inside or outside the lung
• General Health
• Stages of Cancer
• Results of scans and Blood tests