Understanding Lung Cancer Treatment

Answer 1

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lung cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer. Smoking, being exposed to second-hand smoke, radon gas exposure and a family history of lung cancer are all risk factors of developing lung cancer. However, smoking accounts for approximately 90 percent of all lung cancers. The lung cancer risk increases the longer you have smoked and by the number of cigarettes smoked.

Small cell lung cancer and non-small lung cancer are the two main types of lung cancer. Although some lung cancers do not generate symptoms, many lung cancers cause shortness of breath, wheezing, a cough that persists, coughing up blood and sometimes chest pain. Other symptoms may include fatigue, weakness and weight loss. As the disease progresses, the patient may have repeated episodes of pneumonia, enlarged neck and upper chest lymph nodes and changes in fingertip shape. Blood work and chest x-rays are used to identify lung cancer. A sputum cytology, which examines sputum under a microscope for cancer cells, may also be used to identify lung cancer. Based upon these results, if lung cancer is suspected, a lung biopsy is performed to confirm a malignancy.

Lung cancer treatment depends on the type of lung cancer diagnosed as well as the stage. Once you have been diagnosed with lung cancer, your lung cancer will be staged. Most lung cancer is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or some combination of all three. In some lung cancer cases, doctors perform surgery by cutting out and remove cancerous tissue. Surgery is usually the treatment of choice when the cancer has not spread outside of the lung. According to OncologyChannel.com, less invasive procedures through the use of video-assisted thoracic surgery have been employed recently to remove cancerous lung tissue.

Chemotherapy, given orally or intravenously, is often used to shrink and kill the lung cancer cells. Chemotherapy lowers the immune system and often makes the patient weak. Side effects of chemotherapy often cause the patient to have nausea and vomiting as well as hair loss. Radiation is another lung cancer treatment that involves using high-energy rays on the cancer area in an attempt to kill cancer cells. Radiation side effects may include hair loss, itching, edema, redness of the skin, nausea, vomiting, changes in taste, fatigue, increased heart rate, and increased risk of infection.

It is important for a person who has any lung cancer symptoms to receive a diagnosis as soon as possible. Early treatment can make a significant difference in the patient's life expectancy following a lung cancer diagnosis.