Live Life Team
A person who has the habit of excessive smoking develops lung cancer. But cases have been reported where people have developed lung cancer due to passive smoking as well as exposing themselves to certain types of chemicals as well as gases. Lung cancer may bePrimary where the initial point of the cancer is the lung itself, secondary where the cancer develops in lungs via metastasis. Primary lung cancer is of two types – the small cell lung cancer, the non-small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer can be divided into three. They are squamous cell carcinoma, the adrenocarcinoma as well as the large cell carcinoma. The treatment for both small cell lung cancer and the non-small cell lung cancer is different.
Symptoms
The symptoms associated with lung cancer are excessive coughing that is persistent in nature, the nature of the cough tends to change, the person will start spitting blood along with the phlegm, breathlessness, the person may experience pains and aches while breathing as well as coughing, a general feeling of excessive tiredness, appetite loss, loss of weight, development of swelling of the neck as well as face, development of pain on the right side of the ribs, presence of a voice that is very hoarse, trouble while swallowing, the numbness and tingling of the fingers as well as toes, dizziness, drowsiness, weakness of the muscles may be experienced, men develop swollen breasts as well as development of clots in blood which is known as thrombosis.
Pancoast tumour is a condition when the lung cancer develops on the top of the lungs. The symptoms associated with this type of lung cancer are presence of severe pain in the shoulders, drooping of an eye, weakness in the eye, presence of a smaller pupil in the eye which is weak and drooping as well absence of sweating on the side of the face which experiences the above conditions.
Causes
The major factor contributing to the development of lung cancer is the smoking of cigarettes in excessive quantities. Using pipes as well as cigars for smoking also contributes equally for the development of lung cancer as well as oral cancer.
The second major contributor to the development of lung cancer is the inhalation of the radon gas. Radon is the naturally occurring gas which is of a radioactive nature.People who are employed in industries using asbestos are also subjected to the risk of lung cancer. In rare cases, chemicals like nickel and uranium also cause lung cancer.
Treatment
The treatment options available are for small cell lung cancer, either chemotherapy alone or a combination of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy is advised. For non-small cell lung cancer, radiotherapy alone or a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy is advised. In advanced stages, a person may have to undergo surgical removal of the affected part.
