Lung Cancer Was a Less Known Condition

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.

STAGING OF LUNG CANCER

Staging and its determination are very important in lung cancer cases because they help in choosing the correct treatment option. Staging refers to severity of the condition at the time of diagnosis. Under the NSCLC system lung cancer stages range from 1 to 4 in the order of severity:

Stage 1 cancer is when lung cancer is strictly found in lungs only.

Stage 2 and 3 are when tumors are confined to lungs but are bigger in size than stage 1 tumors

Stage 4 is when lung cancer has spread to other tissues as well beyond the lungs.

The other system used for determination of stage is called SCLC where a two tiered method is applied.

Under this, LS or Limited stage cancer refers to condition when tumors are confined to chest area alone.

ES or extensive stage refers to the stage when cancer has spread to other organs as well.

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.