What is lung cancer?

Lung cancer is cancer that usually starts in the lining of the bronchi (the main airways of the lungs), but can also begin in other areas of the respiratory system, including the trachea, bronchioles, or alveoli. It is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. In 2008, 215,020 new cases of lung cancer are expected, according to the American Cancer Society.

Lung cancers are believed to develop over a period of many years.

Nearly all lung cancers are carcinomas, a cancer that begins in the lining or covering tissues of an organ. the tumor cells of each type of lung cancer grow and spread differently, and each type requires different treatment. about 85 percent to 90 percent of lung cancers belong to the group called non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancers are generally divided into two types:

• Nonsmall cell lung cancer is much more common than small cell lung cancer. the three main kinds of nonsmall cell lung cancer are named for the type of cells in the tumor:
• Squamous cell carcinoma, also called epidermoid carcinoma, is the most common type of lung cancer in men. It often begins in the bronchi and usually does not spread as quickly as other types of lung cancer.
• Adenocarcinoma usually begins along the outer edges of the lungs and under the lining of the bronchi. It is the most common type of lung cancer in people who have never smoked.
• Large cell carcinomas are a group of cancers with large, abnormal-looking cells. these tumors usually begin along the outer edges of the lungs.
• Small cell lung cancer, sometimes called oat cell cancer because the cancer cells may look like oats when viewed under a microscope, grows rapidly and quickly spreads to other organs. There are two stages of small cell lung cancer:
• limited -  cancer is generally found only in one lung. There may also be cancer in nearby lymph nodes on the same side of the chest.
• extensive -  cancer has spread beyond the primary tumor in the lung into other parts of the body.

It is important to find out what kind of lung cancer a person has. the different types of carcinomas, involving different regions of the lung, may cause different symptoms and are treated differently.

What are the symptoms of lung cancer?

The following are the most common symptoms for lung cancer. however, each individual may experience symptoms differently.

Lung cancer usually does not cause symptoms when it first develops, but they often become present after the tumor begins growing. a cough is the most common symptom of lung cancer. other symptoms include:

• constant chest pain
• shortness of breath
• wheezing
• recurring lung infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis
• bloody or rust-colored sputum
• hoarseness
• a tumor that presses on large blood vessels near the lung can cause swelling of the neck and face
• a tumor that presses on certain nerves near the lung causing pain and weakness in the shoulder, arm, or hand
• fever for unknown reason

Like all cancers, lung cancer can cause:

• fatigue
• loss of appetite
• loss of weight
• headache
• pain in other parts of the body not affected by the cancer
• bone fractures

Other symptoms can be caused by substances made by lung cancer cells–referred to as a paraneoplastic syndrome. Certain lung cancer cells produce a substance that causes a sharp drop in the level of sodium in the blood, which can cause many symptoms, including confusion and sometimes even coma.

None of these symptoms is a sure sign of lung cancer. Only a physician can tell whether a patient’s symptoms are caused by cancer or by another problem. Consult your physician for a diagnosis.

What are the risk factors for lung cancer?

A risk factor is anything that increases a person’s chance of getting a disease such as cancer. different cancers have different risk factors. several risk factors make a person more likely to develop lung cancer:

• Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, with nearly 90 percent of lung cancers thought to be a result of smoking.

Additional risk factors include:

• secondhand smoke – breathing in the smoke of others
• smoking marijuana cigarettes, which:
• contain more tar than tobacco cigarettes.
• are inhaled very deeply.
• are smoked all the way to the end where tar content is the highest.

Because marijuana is an illegal substance, it is not possible to control whether it contains fungi, pesticides, and other additives.

For more information on lung cancer or to find out more about El Camino Hospital’s current clinical trials, give us a call at (800) 216-5556

Hope for breakthrough lung cancer test

8:20am Thursday 10th March 2011

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

SCIENTISTS in York are hoping to make a breakthrough in developing a non-invasive test for lung cancer.

Cizzle Biotech, a small company set up to further research into the disease, has received £300,000 from Yorkshire Cancer Research and the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund to continue its work.

The advances are a spin-off of research started by Dr Dawn Coverley at the University of York, on the Ciz1 b-variant gene, which it is hoped can be used to develop a simple blood test.

Doctors around the world would be able to use the test to improve predict drug response, monitor response to treatment and detect residual disease.

John Lucas, head of Cizzle, said: “The potential of our proposition to benefit cancer patients has increased dramatically with the discovery that the Ciz1 b-variant is prevalent in both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer plasma.

“We know that b-variant is easily detected in plasma from late stage lung cancer patients and absent from plasmas from healthy people, so a key goal now is to test whether Ciz1 b-variant is present in the blood of patients with early stage disease.

“In non-small cell lung cancer, for example, accurate staging is particularly important for decision making about surgery and chemotherapy, making a reliable biomarker such as this highly desirable.”

if Cizzle, which is based at York Science Park, can successfully develop an early stage, non-invasive lung cancer test, patients who have yet to display symptoms of lung cancer may be diagnosed and treated sooner, resulting in improved chances of recovery.

Morgan Williams, Yorkshire Cancer Research’s commercial development officer, said: “This latest investment is another example of that approach, where we financially support good projects that have real potential to fulfil a need, in this case in lung cancer.”

More News stories Share Close

Hope for breakthrough lung cancer test

8:20am Thursday 10th March 2011

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

SCIENTISTS in York are hoping to make a breakthrough in developing a non-invasive test for lung cancer.

Cizzle Biotech, a small company set up to further research into the disease, has received £300,000 from Yorkshire Cancer Research and the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund to continue its work.

the advances are a spin-off of research started by Dr Dawn Coverley at the University of York, on the Ciz1 b-variant gene, which it is hoped can be used to develop a simple blood test.

Doctors around the world would be able to use the test to improve predict drug response, monitor response to treatment and detect residual disease.

John Lucas, head of Cizzle, said: “The potential of our proposition to benefit cancer patients has increased dramatically with the discovery that the Ciz1 b-variant is prevalent in both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer plasma.

“We know that b-variant is easily detected in plasma from late stage lung cancer patients and absent from plasmas from healthy people, so a key goal now is to test whether Ciz1 b-variant is present in the blood of patients with early stage disease.

“In non-small cell lung cancer, for example, accurate staging is particularly important for decision making about surgery and chemotherapy, making a reliable biomarker such as this highly desirable.”

if Cizzle, which is based at York Science Park, can successfully develop an early stage, non-invasive lung cancer test, patients who have yet to display symptoms of lung cancer may be diagnosed and treated sooner, resulting in improved chances of recovery.

Morgan Williams, Yorkshire Cancer Research’s commercial development officer, said: “This latest investment is another example of that approach, where we financially support good projects that have real potential to fulfil a need, in this case in lung cancer.”

more News stories Share Close

Lung cancer being the most fatal of all the cancers worldwide is regarded as one of the leading causes of death amongst both men and women in the U.S. it is the most universal form of cancer in men worldwide whereas, the fifth most common form of cancer in women.

In medical terminology, the malevolent transformation and expansion of lung tissues causes cancer in lungs, in simple words, the rapid growth of abnormal cells in the lungs leads to cancer which may start anywhere in the Lung and respiratory problems are destroying the healthy tissue and fell and the whole body suffers.

when examined under a microscope by a pathologist of lung cancer can be of two types, namely: '

O Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC): this type of cancer accounts for 20% of lung cancer with smoking a major cause of SCLC. O non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) NSCLC is responsible for 80% of lung cancers, their symptoms are those that. these includeSquamous cell carcinoma (also called epidermoid carcinoma), Large Cell Carcinoma, Adenocarcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Treatment of cancer (lung) varies as it is based on the exact location and the extent of spread. Usually, there are no definite signs or symptoms in the early stages, as they only occur later in the advance stages.

It is only on a routine chest X-ray or CT scan that cancer (in the lungs) in the form of coin lesions, is detected in its tumour form that looks like a coin. some of the symptoms of cancer (lung cancer) are:

or a persistent cough that gets worse with time or aggravation of an existing chronic cough or coughing blood or respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea accompanied by hoarseness and difficulty breathing chest pain or constant or repeated bouts of bronchitis or pneumonia or swelling of the face and neck or unexplained weight loss and / or fatigue

some other symptomswith late-stage cancer (lung) include:

o Headache, bone pain, aching joints, bleeding or blood clots,o Bone fractures not related to accidental injury,o Neurologic symptoms- unsteady walk and/or intervallic memory loss.

The numbers of deaths caused by cancer (in the lungs) are more as compared to the total number of deaths caused by colon, prostate, ovarian, lymph and breast cancers combined. about 85% of lung cancer cases are due to cigarette smoking. this is based on the correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked and the number of years of indulging in the vice. However, the risk of developing lung cancer can be reduced by quitting smoking, as 90% of lung cancer is due to tobacco use.

Apart from cigarette smoking, other causes of Cancer (in the lungs) are increase in pollution levels, radiation and asbestos exposure.

Electrical Company Competitors Management