<h3>What is lung cancer?</h3> <p>Lung cancer is <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/cancer.html">cancer</a> that forms in tissues of the lung, usually in the cells that line the air passages. It is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.</p> <p>There are two main types: <strong>small cell lung cancer</strong> and <strong>non-small cell lung cancer</strong>. These two types grow differently and are treated differently. Non-small cell lung cancer is the more common type.</p> <h3>Who is more likely to develop lung cancer?</h3> <p>Anyone can develop lung cancer, but certain factors raise your risk of getting it:</p><ul> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/smoking.html">Smoking</a>. This is the most important risk factor for lung cancer. Tobacco smoking causes about 9 out of 10 cases of lung cancer in men and about 8 out of 10 cases of lung cancer in women. The more years you smoke and the more cigarettes you smoke each day, the more your risk goes up. Your risk is also greater if you smoke a lot and drink <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/alcohol.html">alcohol</a> every day or take beta carotene supplements. If you have quit smoking, your risk will be lower than if you had kept smoking. But you will still have a higher risk than people who never smoked.</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/secondhandsmoke.html">Secondhand smoke</a>, which is the combination of the smoke that comes from a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by a smoker. When you breathe in secondhand smoke, you are exposed to the same cancer-causing agents as smokers, although in smaller amounts.</li> <li>A family history of lung cancer.</li> <li>Being exposed to <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/asbestos.html">asbestos</a>, <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/arsenic.html">arsenic</a>, chromium, beryllium, nickel, soot, or tar in the workplace.</li> <li>Being <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/radiationexposure.html">exposed to radiation</a>, for example from: <ul> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/radiationtherapy.html">Radiation therapy</a> to the breast or chest</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/radon.html">Radon</a> in the home or workplace</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/diagnosticimaging.html">Certain imaging tests</a> such as <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ctscans.html">CT scans</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/hiv.html">HIV infection</a>. Your risk is higher if you have HIV. However, smoking rates are higher in people who have HIV, so it's not clear whether the increased risk is from the HIV infection or from smoking.</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/airpollution.html">Air pollution</a>. Studies show that living in areas with higher levels of air pollution increases your risk of lung cancer.</li> </ul> <h3>What are the symptoms of lung cancer?</h3> <p>Lung cancer may not cause any signs or symptoms until the cancer is advanced. Sometimes the cancer is found during a chest <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/xrays.html">x-ray</a> done for another condition.</p> <p>The symptoms of lung cancer may include:</p><ul> <li>Chest <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/chestpain.html">pain</a> or discomfort</li> <li>A <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/cough.html">cough</a> that doesn't go away or gets worse over time</li> <li>Coughing up blood</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/breathingproblems.html">Trouble breathing</a></li> <li>Wheezing</li> <li>Hoarseness</li> <li>Loss of appetite</li> <li>Weight loss for no known reason</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/fatigue.html">Feeling very tired</a></li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/swallowingdisorders.html">Trouble swallowing</a></li> <li>Swelling in the face and/or veins in the neck</li> </ul> <h3>How is lung cancer diagnosed?</h3> <p>To find out if you have lung cancer, your health care provider:</p><ul> <li>Will take your medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms</li> <li>Will ask about your family history</li> <li>Will do a physical exam</li> <li>May order certain imaging tests, such as a chest x-ray or chest CT scan</li> <li>May order lab tests, including tests of your blood and sputum</li> <li>May do a procedure to take a <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/biopsy.html">biopsy</a> of the lung</li> </ul> <p>If you do have lung cancer, your provider will do other tests to find out if it has spread through the lungs, lymph nodes, and the rest of the body. This is called staging. Knowing the type and stage of lung cancer you have helps your provider decide what kind of treatment you need.</p> <p>If you have <strong>small-cell lung cancer,</strong> your provider may also do <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/lung-cancer-genetic-tests/">genetic testing</a> to look for certain gene changes (<a href="https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/mutationsanddisorders/genemutation/variants">variants</a>) in your cancer cells. The results of the testing may help guide treatment.</p> <h3>What are the treatments for lung cancer?</h3> <p>For most patients with lung cancer, current treatments do not cure the cancer.</p> <p>Your treatment will depend on which type of lung cancer you have, how far it has spread, your overall health, and other factors. You may get more than one type of treatment.</p> <p>The treatments for <strong>small cell lung cancer</strong> may include:</p><ul> <li>Surgery.</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/cancerchemotherapy.html">Chemotherapy</a>.</li> <li>Radiation therapy.</li> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/cancerimmunotherapy.html">Immunotherapy</a>.</li> <li>Laser therapy, which uses a laser beam to kill cancer cells.</li> <li>Endoscopic stent placement. An endoscope is a thin, tube-like instrument used to look at tissues inside the body. It may be used to put in a device called a stent. The stent helps to open an airway that has been blocked by abnormal tissue.</li> </ul> <p>The treatments for <strong>non-small cell lung cancer</strong> may include:</p><ul> <li>Surgery.</li> <li>Radiation therapy.</li> <li>Chemotherapy.</li> <li>Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that attack specific cancer cells with less harm to normal cells.</li> <li>Immunotherapy.</li> <li>Laser therapy.</li> <li>Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses a medicine and a certain type of laser light to kill cancer cells.</li> <li>Cryosurgery, which uses an instrument to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue.</li> <li>Electrocautery, a treatment that uses a probe or needle heated by an electric current to destroy abnormal tissue.</li> </ul> <h3>Can lung cancer be prevented?</h3> <p>Avoiding the risk factors may help prevent lung cancer. For example, you can:</p><ul> <li><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/quittingsmoking.html">Quit smoking</a>. And if you don't smoke, don't start.</li> <li>Lower your exposure to hazardous substances at work.</li> <li>Lower your exposure to radon. Radon tests can show whether your home has high levels of radon. You can buy a test kit yourself or hire a professional to do the test.</li> </ul> <p class="">NIH: National Cancer Institute</p>

Lung cancer is a disease in which certain cells in the lungs become abnormal and multiply uncontrollably to form a tumor. Lung cancer may not cause signs or symptoms in its early stages. Some people with lung cancer have chest pain, frequent coughing, blood in the mucus, breathing problems, trouble swallowing or speaking, loss of appetite and weight loss, fatigue, or swelling in the face or neck. Additional symptoms can develop if the cancer spreads (metastasizes) into other tissues. Lung cancer occurs most often in adults in their sixties or seventies. Most people who develop lung cancer have a history of long-term tobacco smoking; however, the condition can occur in people who have never smoked.~Lung cancer is generally divided into two types, small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, based on the size of the affected cells when viewed under a microscope. Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for 85 percent of lung cancer, while small cell lung cancer accounts for the remaining 15 percent.~Small cell lung cancer grows quickly and in more than half of cases the cancer has spread beyond the lung by the time the condition is diagnosed. Small cell lung cancer often metastasizes, most commonly to the liver, brain, bones, and adrenal glands (small hormone-producing glands located on top of each kidney). After diagnosis, most people with small cell lung cancer survive for about 1 year; less than seven percent survive 5 years.~Non-small cell lung cancer is divided into three main subtypes: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell lung carcinoma. Adenocarcinoma arises from the cells that line the small air sacs (alveoli) located throughout the lungs. Squamous cell carcinoma arises from squamous cells that line the passages leading from the windpipe (trachea) to the lungs (bronchi). Large cell carcinoma arises from epithelial cells that line the lungs. Large cell carcinoma encompasses non-small cell lung cancers that do not appear to be adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas. The 5-year survival rate for people with non-small cell lung cancer is usually between 11 and 17 percent; it can be lower or higher depending on the subtype and stage of the cancer.