What is Lung Cancer?
Lung cancer is a type of cancer which forms in the lung tissues. It is one of the most common cancers in both men and women. Lung cancer risk factors include air pollution, smoking – both active and passive, exposure to radon gas, diesel exhaust, arsenic, asbestos and also some forms of chromium and silica; family history of lung cancer and radiation therapy to the chest (1✔).
Top 10 Interesting Facts on Lung Cancer
Statistics on Lung Cancer
- Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among all the other cancers (2✔).
- Lung cancer is most common in elderly people. More than half of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in patients aged 65 years or older. Cases of lung cancer in Scotland are the highest in the world, referring to its history of long smoking habit (3✔).
- Lung cancer has a18.6 % five-year survival rate, much lower than other cancers such as breast cancer (89.6 %), prostate cancer (98.2 %) and colorectal cancer (64.5%). More than 50 % of people suffering from lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed (4✔).
- In the United States, about 90 % of lung cancers are associated with cigarette smoking. The risk of lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes used per day and the duration of smoking. Pipe, cigar and shisha also cause lung cancer (5✔).
- Non-smokers who live with smokers have a 20-30% higher risk of lung cancer than those who do not live with a smoker. The number of non-smokers who die from lung cancer, caused by second-hand smoke every year is about 7,300 (6✔).
- Lung cancer is of two types – small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) consisting of 10-15% of lung cancers and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) comprising 80-85% of lung cancers. Adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma are the subtypes of non-small-cell carcinoma (7✔).
How to Know You Have a Lung Cancer?
- Lung cancer does not show up with any symptoms until the disease is in its advanced stage. About one-fourth of people who have lung cancer, get to know about the disease during their routine chest x-ray or CT scan examination. MRI scan, PET scan and bone scan also used to identify the lung cancer. Also, tests like sputum cytology, thoracentesis, needle biopsy and bronchoscopy are used to diagnose the lung cancer (8✔).
- The non-tobacco carcinogens associated with lung cancer are radon, asbestos, and arsenic. Radon is a colorless, odorless and tasteless radioactive gas, which is naturally present in the soil. It surfaces above with the soil and may be found along with the dust and dirt inside homes. Exposure to radon along with cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk of lung cancer. The presence of radon gas can be tested using simple kits. Asbestos is known to cause many types of lung diseases, including lung cancer. Arsenic is a chemical that induces bio-transformation of cells when it enters the body and this could lead to cancer development.
Therapy and Surgical Methods for Lung Cancer
- Most common treatment for lung cancer includes chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, surgery, Radiofrequency ablation (RFA), clinical trials and palliative care, complementary and alternative lung cancer therapies, or a combination of more than one of these techniques (9✔).
Lung Cancer Survival Rate
- People with early stage non-small-cell lung cancer can have 60 to 70 % chances of survival after surgical removal of affected part of the lung. However, if cancer has progressed extensively, the average survival duration is 9 months or less. Survival for small-cell lung cancer is 5-10 % after 5 years of diagnosis (10✔).
