Lung Cancer Disease

Lung cancer is one of killer disease among both men and women. It claims more lives each year than colon, prostate, lymph and breast cancers combined. Like other cancers, The lung cancer is results from an abnormality in the body's basic unit of life, the cell. In the lung cancers cases, the uncontrolled cells reproduce rapidly grow into normal lung tissue because of malignant transformation and expansion of lung tissue.


Estimated new cases and deaths from lung cancer {Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)} in the United States in 2008 (Info: NCI): New cases: 215,020 and Deaths: 161,840.

To get more information about lung cancer, you can directly go to this links :

Classification of Lung Cancer

Sign and Symptoms of Lung Cancer

Causes and Risk factors of Lung Cancer

Pathophysiology of Lung Cancer

Tests for Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

Treatment of Lung Cancer

Alternative Therapy for Lung Cancer

Or you can see more lung cancer articles on this links also:

Description of Lung Cancer

All Cancers Info

Lung Cancer (Mesothelioma)

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Classification of Lung Cancer

There are important classification of Lung Cancer which started in the lungs and others lung cancer that has spread to the lung from another part of the body. Basically, The lung cancer has divided into two criteria according to the level spread of lung cancer it self :

Primary lung cancer (cancer that has started in the lungs)

Secondary lung cancer (cancer that has spread to the lungs)

1. Primary Lung Cancer

Lung cancer which include in this criteria are divided into two main types; Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These two types of cancers grow and spread in different ways, so a distinction between these two types is important. This classification is based upon the microscopic appearance of the tumor cells themselves.

a. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
SCLC accounts for about 20% of all lung cancers, these cancers are sometimes called oat cell carcinomas. Although the cells are small, they multiply quickly and form large tumors that can spread throughout the body. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) are usually responds better to the chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

SCLC are strongly related to cigarette smoking, with only 1% of these tumors occurring in nonsmokers. The occurrence of lung cancer in non-smokers, who account for fewer than 10% of cases, appears to be due to a combination of genetic factors, radon gas, asbestos, and air pollution, including second-hand smoke.

b. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for about 80% of lung cancers. The NSCLC are diveded into three subtypes such as Squamous cell carcinoma (also called epidermoid carcinoma), Adenocarcinoma and Large cell carcinoma.

- Squamous cell carcinomas were formerly more common than adenocarcinomas, its increase most frequently in the central chest area in the bronchi which known as epidermoid carcinomas. These is the most common type of lung cancer in men.

- This cancer is found in the glands of the lungs that produce mucus. While adenocarcinomas are associated with smoking like other lung cancers, this type is especially observed as well in nonsmokers who develop lung cancer. These is the most common type of lung cancer in women.

- These is type of lung cancer that forms near the surface, or outer edges, of the lungs. This type of lung cancer tends to grow quite quickly, sometimes referred to as undifferentiated carcinomas, are the least common type of NSCLC.


2. Secondary Lung Cancer
Secondary lung cancer is cancers that has spread from another part of the body. There are quite a few different cancers that can spread to the lungs, including breast cancer and bowel cancer.

Cancers from anywhere in the body may spread to the lungs either through the bloodstream, lymphatic system, or by directly from nearby organs. The metastatic tumors (cancers) are most often multiple, scattered throughout the lung, and concentrated in the peripheral rather than central areas of the organ.

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Sign and Symptoms of Lung Cancer

Signs and symptoms of lung cancer typically occur only when the disease is advanced, It will take many years to develop which often leads to diagnosis at an advanced stage of this disease. Sometimes lung cancer does not cause any symptoms and is only found by a routine x-ray, It is important to talk to a doctor when symptoms are present. The most common symptoms of lung cancer are may include:

Smoker's cough that persists or becomes intense.

Cough is an important symptom of lung cancer, but it is difficult to distinguish cough associated with lung cancer from cough associated smoking or cough associated with chronic lung conditions like COPD that has resulted from smoking.

Breathing problems (shortness of breath or wheezing)

Any kind of "shortness of breath" is a potentially life-threatening emergency, It may lead to the dangerous causes such as heart attack, pneumonia, or pulmonary embolism. But for the people who has heavy smoker history, a change in pattern of respiratory difficulty should cause concern for the development of lung cancer.

Coughing up blood, even a small amount

The symptom of coughing up blood needs to be distinguished from the more general symptom of blood in sputum, where blood may come from other causes than coughing such as nasal bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc. The doctors are also consider about lung cancer development.

Frequent lung infections (pneumonia or bronchitis)

Some of lung cancer patients are developed of pneumonia or bronchitis.

Persistent chest, shoulder, or back pain

Lung cancer can infiltrate into the chest wall and may cause pain in the chest. Development of chest pain in a high-risk person should alert the physician to the possibility of lung cancer with chest wall invasion, or plural involvement.

Change in the voice (hoarseness of voice)

These is also one of lung cancer's symptom, Its occur because of the pressure effect on the one of nerves that comes from the chest to the vocal cord (called recurrent laryngeal nerve).

Other sign and symptoms of Lung Cancer

Those people who develop of persistent cough more than 2 weeks, event they are non-smokers category may need to be consider about symptom of lung cancer. Other symptoms that can be related to late-stage lung cancer are trouble swallowing, neck and facial swelling, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue and tiredness.

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Causes and Risk factors of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of killer disease that most common cause by smoking (87%), Exposure to other carcinogens such as asbestos and radon gas. Lung cancer cases in United States and United Kingdom are yearly increase in the large number and most of patients has smoking history.


The other risk factors to develop of lung cancer cases are air pollution, other lung diseases, diet, personal and family history. Radiation Therapy, especially on the chest area its possible as risk factor for developing lung cancer.

Lung Cancer Caused by Tobacco Smoking

Smoking tobacco is the first number of risk factor which responsible for lung cancer cases. The chance that a smoker will develop lung cancer is affected by many crietaria bellow:

1. How young the smoker was when he started smoking
2. How long the person has smoked
3. How many of cigarettes are smoked per day.

In most people, lung cancer is related to cigarette smoking. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or passive smoking also as risk factor to increase the number of lung cancer disease. The smoke in the air when someone else smokes, has been accepted as a cause of lung cancer since the Surgeon General's report of 1986.

Lung Cancer Caused by Asbestos Exposure

Exposure to the asbestos as a fiber that found in industrial materials is a big risk factor for lung cancer. Asbestos is a unique cause of lung cancer Asbestos, worker are 7 time more likely to develop and die from lung cancer. Asbestos Exposure is the second biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking. Lung cancer that caused by exposure to the asbestos material known as Asbestos Cancer or Mesothelioma. More about Mesothelioma information here "Mesothelioma Full Articles".

Lung Cancer Caused by Air Pollution

In the many of modern countries, especially an area with crowd population and transportation has high risk for increase of air pollution. According to the American Cancer Society, air pollution increases the risk for lung cancer cases event this risk is far less than smoking.

Lung Cancer Caused by Other Lung Disease

Tuberculosis and other lung diseases such as Pneumonia can leave scarring on the lungs. Lung cancer tends to develop in areas that are injured or scarred from lung diseases, specifically adenocarcinoma.

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Pathophysiology of Lung Cancer

Cancer is fundamentally a disease of regulation of tissue growth. A normal cell, Its became a cancer cell because a transform cell by mutation and genetic change which causing loss of entire chromosomes and result affected a single DNA nucleotide.

The pathophysiology of lung cancer development is complex and incompletely understood, It will be more than one book to describe mechanisms how the pathophysiology of lung cancer process happened.

This is an image that may give a simple mechanisms about pathophysiology of lung cancer process :

Cigarette smoking is responsible for approximately 30% of all cancer deaths. Especially for lung cancer cases, smoking is hight risk to develop of lung cancer. About 85% of lung cancer cases in men and 75% in women caused by smoking. There are about 38 million former cigarette smokers and about 50 million smokers in the United States today (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1508734).

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