Causes And Diagnosis Of Lung Cancer

Cancer is the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade other tissues. The cells can become cancerous due to the accumulation of defects or mutations in the DNA.

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death. Unfortunately, it is a difficult disease to detect in the early stages, making it difficult to begin effective treatment in a timely manner. Since the diagnosis often comes later, it is rare that the treatment of advanced stages of lung cancer is optimistic.

In most cases, the cells can detect and repair damaged DNA. If the cell is severely damaged and unable to repair itself, it activates a programmed cell death, or apoptosis.

Cancer occurs when the damaged cells grow, divide and spread abnormally instead of self-destructing.

Studies are still underway to identify the exact cause of lung cancer. However, certain risk factors have been shown to turn cells into cancer cells. These risk factors include genetics and exposure to polluted air as well as a few more. The most obvious factor, however, is the use of tobacco.

The relationship to tobacco use

Since 1976, with the introduction of the first cigarette rolling machine, tobacco has become available to many people. At that time, this type of cancer was not a common disease. As time went on, smoking became more and more popular, at the same time as the number of cancer cases increased.

Currently, about 90% of all cases of lung cancer are related to tobacco use. Radon gas, pollution, toxins and other factors contribute to the last 10%.

Both cigarettes and their smoke contain more than 70 carcinogenic chemicals. Some of these are the following:

Arsenic (an insecticide)
Benzene (a gasoline additive)
Lead (a very toxic metal)
Cadmium (a battery component)
Isoprene (used to make synthetic rubber)

The importance of cilia

Cigarette smoke damages and can kill cilia, the cells of the airways.

Flicker is responsible for eliminating toxins, carcinogens, viruses and bacteria. When cigarettes damage or kill the cilia, all of these harmful substances can build up in the lungs and create a variety of problems that can range from inflammation to cancer.

Diagnosis of lung cancer: Risk factors

Genetics. Unfortunately, there are also patients who develop lung cancer without a related medical history.
Drinking water that contains a high concentration of arsenic. This can increase the likelihood of developing the disease. However, it is not clear how the process takes place.
Use of tobacco. Although the cause of adenocarcinoma of the lungs is unknown, it is more common in smokers than non-smokers. However, the most common risk factors are passive smoking, radon gas, air pollution and occupational exposure.

Passive smoking

Tobacco smokers put others at risk of developing lung cancer. A non-smoker living with a smoker has a 20% to 30% greater risk of developing this disease due to exposure to ambient smoke concentrations.

Radon gas

Smokers who are exposed to this gas have a greater risk of developing the disease than non-smokers. Radon gas is a natural gas, but it can seep into homes and accumulate in basements and crawl spaces.

Air pollution

Air pollution contributes to the development of lung cancer. The pollutants carried through the air, such as diesel vapor, can cause some people to develop this disease. It is estimated that approximately 5% of lung cancer cases are due to air pollution.

Occupational exposure

Although smoking is the biggest risk factor for developing this type of cancer, exposure to certain chemicals and products is another risk factor.

Chemicals such as asbestos, arsenic and benzene, as well as a few more, increase the risk of developing lung cancer.

The exposure to asbestos can even cause lung cancer (mesothelioma) many years after the initial exposure. These people can carry the risk of having the cancer for decades (between 10 and 40 years).

Symptoms

When a person with lung cancer shows symptoms, these are the most common symptoms they often experience:

Exhaustion
Chest pain
Weight loss
Shortness of breath or wheezing
Chronic cough, cough up blood

The different variants of lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer. This is about 10% of all cases. This type of cancer usually spreads quickly.
Non-small cell lung cancer. This is the most common type. It represents about 90% of all cases of lung cancer and is not as aggressive. In other words, it spreads to other tissues and organs at a slower pace.

About 5% of the tumors that form during this disease are carcinoma tumors. At the same time, the other types of cancerous tumors are even more uncommon (adenoid cystic carcinoma, lymphoma and sarcoma).

Although cancer can spread from an area of the body to the lungs, these are not considered lung cancer.

Diagnosis of lung cancer

Unfortunately, the early stages of lung cancer rarely show visible symptoms of anything more dangerous. In many cases, the symptoms are general, which does not give rise to suspicion of cancer.

Approximately 25% of all people who do not show symptoms receive the diagnosis through a radiography of the breast or during a routine check-up.

If the routine check-up points to lung cancer, your doctor should continue to test to confirm the diagnosis. A medical specialist will examine the patient’s lung cells using sputum, or mucus, using a biopsy sample to classify and determine the stage of lung cancer.

Prevention of lung cancer

The most recommended (and obvious) method of prevention is to avoid tobacco or to at least reduce the dose significantly.

Furthermore, like preventive methods for other diseases, you should maintain a healthy lifestyle, do everything in moderation and take precautions when it comes to chemicals and toxins in general.