CANCER

Cancer

Cancer

Introduction

Every year, over 160 000 people in the US alone die just because of lung cancer. Just because of lung cancer, much adulthood have been cut short; just because of lung cancer, many families have been ripped apart; just because of lung cancer, many people will now have to face treatments that will change their lives forever. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and second highest among women. Of the thousands that it claims annually, the majority of them are smokers.

Discussion

There are six main types of lung cancer. Though they differ in characteristics and behaviour, they share the same purpose: to invade nearby tissues or spread throughout the body starting from the lung. The six kinds of lung cancers are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinomas, bronchioloal- veolar carcinoma, small-cell undifferentiated carcinoma, large-cell carcinoma, and other rare types of cancer (Dunnill 2002). Squamous cell carcinoma usually starts near the bronchial tubes, and then spreads out. Adenocarcinomasa originate on the outer edges of the lungs. Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma arises in the even more outlying areas and can occur in non-smokers. Small-cell undifferentiated carcinoma consists of small cells that are shaped like rods and spread rapidly. Large-cell carcinoma, on the other hand, is composed of large, abnormal cells that spread starting from the outer edges of the lung. Rare cancers of other types may be found though it only accounts for 5% of all lung cancer. Of all of these, squamous cell carcinoma represents the largest number of lung cancers.

Though lung cancer is an extremely deadly disease, there are ways that it can be cured. One of the ways to treat cancer is surgery (Khlat Wail Parkin 2002). In this treatment, the abnormal cancer cells in the lung are removed. Another way is chemotherapy; drugs that are effective against the cancer cells are taken. The third way to treat cancer is radiation therapy. Using high-energy radiation from X-ray machines, cobalt, radium, or other sources, cancer cells can also be destroyed or shrunk.

When a person is diagnosed with lung cancer, several symptoms will occur. Some of the most obvious ones include a chronic cough, worsening breathlessness, weight loss, and excessive fatigue, persistent pain in the chest or elsewhere, and haempothysis (Lerman Minna 2000).

Although lung cancer can affect everyone, some patterns can be traced. The average of people diagnosed with lung cancer is 60. In addition, men are more likely than women to receive lung cancer. The most important factor of all of these is by far from smoking. About 90% of all lung cancer victims are smokers. Furthermore, people with asthma have more of a risk developing lung cancer.

Lung Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lungs. Lung cancer often spreads through the bloodstream or lymphatic system to other tissues. There are about 157,000 people that die from lung cancer each year. There are four types of lung cancer, which are likely to come up in different parts of the lung. Each type differs in behaviour and ...