The historical rise of lung cancer and cigarette smoking

Lung cancer was a less known condition till after the WWI when a sudden increase in number of cases affected by tumors of the lower respiratory tract was noticed. Prior to the WWI, the tobacco industry has increased its production manifold which was directly related with the increase in number of patients with lung cancer. Even though the tobacco industry denied having anything to do with this increase, it was conclusively established in 1950s that there existed a strong link between cigarette smoking and development of tumors in lower respiratory tract. Even though initially most of the cases were found in males, since 1987 things have changed dramatically and now women account for 40% of lung cancer cases found in the U.S.

Statistics show that in 1878, lung tumors were found in hardly 1% of cases emerging at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Dresden in Germany. After 30 years around 1918 this percentage had dramatically reached 10% and this coincided with the end of WW1. It was later found that due to increase in efficiency of cigarette making, production increased and so did consumption. This was found to be the major cause of increase in cases of lung cancer. (Witschi, 2001)

TRANSMISSION

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of developing lung cancer. About 90% of cases can be attributed to the use of tobacco (Wood et al. 2000). Even after a person quits, the risk of lung cancer is there but it does gradually decrease and may vanish completely after 15 years. There are certain factors which make a person more vulnerable to lung cancer such as number of cigarettes smoked per day and the age at which he started smoking. There are some other causes as well including exposure to second hand smoke, asbestos, and radon. (emedicinehealth)

Symptoms and Signs

There may not be any symptoms in some cases of lung cases and tumors may be found only through chest X-rays but in most other cases, some signs and symptoms would start to show as the disease takes hold. Some signs include persistent cough, cough with blood, pain in the chest area and struggling to breathe. These symptoms are similar to signs found in cases of bronchitis and pneumonia and if these occur often, the person should be tested for lung cancer.

TREATMENT OPTIONS

Treatment options are available and can be used only after determination of stage. Which treatment is used is solely depended on how far cancer has spread and how good is the general health status of the patient. Most common treatment options include removal of tumors, Chemotherapy and Radiation therapy.

Removal of tumor is usually the first available or first considered option provided the patient's cancer has been detected at an early stage. If this is a stage 1 cancer, this option is normally found to be the best choice however there can be an exception if the patient has other conditions as well including heart or other lung diseases. Surgical removal doesn't guarantee cure and tumors can always come back. Less than 50% of patients undergoing surgical removal are found to be alive after 5 years of treatment.

Radiation therapy is the other option available to both NSCLC and SCLC patients. This option can also be used in combination with surgical removal. How it is used depends on number of factors including staging, health of the patient, size of the tumor etc. This therapy helps in killing the rapidly dividing cell and hence limiting the growth of cancer. It can also be used when surgery is impossible because cancer has spread to an area which cannot be surgically treated.

Chemotherapy is the treatment used in severe cases even though it can also be utilized at earlier stages. It can be used in combination with other treatment options or as a standalone option. Several chemotherapy drugs are now available and the most effective ones for lung cancer treatment are called platinum-based drugs.