Lung cancer is a condition in which cells grow uncontrollably in the lungs. The cause of lung cancer is often associated with smoking, but actually they are not always related. Then, what are the symptoms and treatment of lung cancer?
Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Symptoms of early stage lung cancer show symptoms of coughing, shortness of breath, and bloody mucus. Based on these symptoms, often the sufferer gets a misdiagnosis as tuberculosis or lung disease. Common treatments for lung cancer usually include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.
In Indonesia, lung cancer is the leading cause of death for men and more than 70 percent of new lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. In the early stages, there are no clear signs or symptoms of lung cancer.
Furthermore, symptoms of lung cancer can be characterized by:
Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Symptoms of early stage lung cancer show symptoms of coughing, shortness of breath, and bloody mucus. Based on these symptoms, often the sufferer gets a misdiagnosis as tuberculosis or lung disease. Common treatments for lung cancer usually include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.
In Indonesia, lung cancer is the leading cause of death for men and more than 70 percent of new lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. In the early stages, there are no clear signs or symptoms of lung cancer.
Furthermore, symptoms of lung cancer can be characterized by:
- Continuously cough until you experience coughing up blood
- Always feeling out of breath
- Fatigue for no reason, and
- Drastic weight loss
Causes of Lung Cancer
Smoking can be said to be the main cause of lung cancer. People who are most at risk for lung cancer are active smokers. About 85 percent of lung cancers are associated with smoking habits.
Despite the fact that this does not mean that every smoker will get lung cancer. People who do not smoke or passive smoking also have the possibility of developing lung cancer even though the amount is lower.
The risk of developing lung cancer is associated with:
- Long smoking duration
- The number of cigarettes consumed every day is very large
Quitting smoking reduces the risk of getting cancer, even the risk of continuing to go down as long as you don't smoke. Reducing just a few cigarettes can reduce risk (but the risk will be greatly reduced if it stops completely).
If you live with a smoker, you have a higher risk of lung cancer compared to people who live in a non-smoking environment. This is because you become passive smokers.
Exposure to several other substances that can increase the risk of lung cancer, include:
- Smoking one cigarette can affect the lungs equivalent to smoking a pack of ordinary cigarettes.
- Chemicals such as arsenic and asbestos.
- Exposure to radiation at work, such as radioactive dust.
- Radon gas, an inert chemical gas which is a natural decay product of uranium.
Some gene changes (mutations) can increase the risk of lung cancer. This gene change mostly occurs because a person gets older. In addition, the presence of certain diseases of the lungs, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is also associated with a slightly increased risk (4-6 times the risk of smokers) for developing lung cancer.
Diagnosis of Lung Cancer
Your doctor may suspect lung cancer if a routine physical examination reveals:
- Swollen lymph nodes above the groin.
- Weak breathing.
- Abnormal sounds in the lungs (when examined with a stethoscope).
- Uneven pupils.
- falling eyelids.
- Weakness in one arm.
- Veins widen in the arms, chest, or neck.
- Facial swelling.
Some lung cancers produce certain levels of certain hormones or substances such as abnormal levels of calcium. If someone shows the evidence and no other cause is clear, the doctor must consider the presence of lung cancer.
Lung cancer can also spread to other parts of the body, such as bones, liver, adrenal glands, or brain. After lung cancer begins to cause symptoms, usually abnormal lung images can be seen on X-rays.
Sometimes, lung cancer that has not yet begun to cause symptoms can be seen in a picture of a chest X-ray when taken for other purposes, for example for a health test. Chest CT scan can be recommended to get more detailed results.
Although laboratory tests for mucus or pulmonary fluid can fully reveal, the diagnosis of lung cancer usually needs to be confirmed through a pulmonary biopsy. This test is carried out under mild anesthesia, in which the doctor guides a thin tube glowing through the nose and descends into the airway to the location of the tumor, where small tissue samples can be taken. This is useful for tumors located near the center of the lungs.
If a biopsy confirms lung cancer, other tests will determine the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Nearby lymph nodes can be tested for cancer cells with a procedure called mediastinoscopy, while imaging techniques such as CT scans, PET scans, bone scans, MRI or CT scans of the brain can detect whether cancer is lodged elsewhere.
Treatment of Lung Cancer
Treatment of lung cancer depends on the type of cancer and general body condition. If cancer is diagnosed at an early stage and only in a small area will make a better difference in the results of treatment.
If the patient's health condition is weak, radiotherapy can be done to destroy cancer cells. If the cancer has spread, surgery and radiotherapy cannot be performed. Usually, chemotherapy is used as a treatment for lung cancer in these cases.
Cancer removal surgery can be done as a way of treating lung cancer if cancer cells are only on one side of the lungs and have not spread. In addition, the patient's health condition needs to be checked whether it is possible to do surgery. Cancer removal surgery will usually be continued with chemotherapy to eliminate the remaining cancer cells.
Meanwhile, radiotherapy uses radiation energy to kill cancer cells. Especially in postoperative conditions, this procedure can also be used to kill remaining cancer cells. If surgery is not possible, radiotherapy is done to relieve symptoms or pain and slow the rate of spread of cancer.
Possible side effects of radiotherapy are:
- Cough until sputum is mixed with blood.
- Pain in the chest.
- Difficulty in swallowing.
- The skin is red and feels sore.
- Hair loss on the chest.
- Often feeling tired.
That is a brief review of lung cancer which consists of symptoms, causes, and treatment. From now on, pay attention to your health as best as possible and don't underestimate any disease
