Lung Cancer: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Lung cancer is one of the most common oncological diseases, which is most often diagnosed in men over 40 years of age. Lungs are one of the most dangerous and intractable localizations for malignant tumors. At the same time, lung cancer is one of the few forms of cancer that can be prevented.

Causes and risk factors for lung cancer

To date, the main cause of lung cancer is smoking. According to statistics, the risk of developing cancer in smokers is 20 times higher than the risk of cancer in non-smokers. Other risk factors include:

• Environmental pollution
• Chronic diseases of the respiratory system (such as bronchitis and pneumonia)
• Risk factors associated with professional activities (work with asbestos, soot, tar, dyes, arsenic and other harmful substances)
• Exposure to radiation
• Consumption of carcinogens (contained in nitrates and food additives)
• Hereditary predisposition.

Signs and symptoms of the disease

In some cases, especially in the first stages of the disease, lung cancer can be asymptomatic. Therefore, often a tumor is detected by chance, when a person does fluorography for some other reason.

Symptoms of lung cancer largely depend on the location and stage of the tumor. The most common complaints of patients include:

• Prolonged cough
• Coughing up blood
• Dyspnea
• Chest pain
• Hoarseness
• Wheezing
• Frequent diseases of the respiratory system

The main danger of lung cancer is its rapid metastasis, that is, spread to other organs and tissues of the body. Most often this type of cancer extends to the liver, adrenal glands, bones and brain.

Types of lung cancer

There are several classifications of lung cancer:

• Depending on the localization of the tumor, central and peripheral cancers are isolated.
• Depending on the histological structure of the tumor, squamous, small cell, large cell carcinoma and glandular cancer are isolated. Each of these species, in turn, is divided into high-, moderate-, low-differentiated and undifferentiated. The lower the degree of differentiation of the tumor, the more dangerous it is considered.
• Depending on the degree of development of lung cancer, like all other types of cancer, is divided into stages. There are four major and two additional stages of lung cancer.

Methods of treatment of lung cancer

The most effective way to treat lung cancer is surgery, but surgery is possible only if the cancer does not spread to the lymph nodes and other organs, that is, in the early stages of the disease. In addition, there are some contraindications to the operation, including serious diseases of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, as well as internal organs. Depending on the location of the tumor, the operation is performed with complete or partial removal of the lung.

In cases when the operation can not be performed, radiation therapy or chemotherapy is used. In most cases, patients are prescribed complex treatment of lung cancer.

The prognosis of treatment depends primarily on the stage of the disease, as well as on the individual characteristics of the patient.

Prevention of disease

The surest way to prevent the development of lung cancer is to quit smoking. In addition, it is necessary to avoid inhalation of harmful substances, to regularly ventilate the rooms and conduct wet cleaning. Proper nutrition also helps reduce the risk of lung cancer: it is necessary to exclude foods containing carcinogens from the diet and instead consume enough of the natural antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables and greens.