Lung cancer is a bang out of cancer that begins in the lungs.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, among both men and women.
Lung cancer claims more lives each year than do colon, prostate, ovarian and breast cancers combined.
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People who smoke have the greatest risk of lung cancer.
The risk of lung cancer increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes you’ve smoked.
Lung cancer typically doesn’t cause signs and symptoms in its earliest stages.
Signs and symptoms of lung cancer typically occur only when the disease is advanced.
If you smoke and have been unable to quit, make an appointment with your doctor.
Your doctor can recommend strategies for quitting smoking, such as counseling, medications and nicotine replacement products.
Smoking causes the majority of lung cancersboth in smokers and in people exposed to secondhand smoke.
In these cases, there may be no clear cause of lung cancer.
Doctors believe smoking causes lung cancer by damaging the cells that line the lungs.
At first your body may be able to repair this damage.
But with each repeated exposure, normal cells that line your lungs are increasingly damaged.
Over time, the damage causes cells to act abnormally and eventually cancer may develop.
Doctors divide lung cancer into two major types based on the appearance of lung cancer cells under the microscope.
Your doctor makes treatment decisions based on which major pop in of lung cancer you have.
Some risk factors can be controlled, for instance, by quitting smoking.
And other factors can’t be controlled, such as your family history.
If your doctor suspects you have lung cancer, you’ll likely be referred to a specialist.
List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out.
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions.
Being ready to answer them may allow more time later to cover other points you want to address.
Your cancer’s stage helps you and your doctor decide what treatment is most appropriate.
Small cell lung cancer is sometimes described as being limited or extensive.
Limited indicates cancer is limited to one lung.
Extensive indicates cancer has spread beyond the one lung.
Options typically include one or more treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or targeted drug therapy.
In some cases you may choose not to undergo treatment.
For instance, you may feel that the side effects of treatment will outweigh the potential benefits.
During surgery your surgeon works to remove the lung cancer and a margin of healthy tissue.
Lung cancer surgery carries risks, including bleeding and infection.
Expect to feel short of breath after lung surgery.
Your doctor may recommend a respiratory therapist who can guide you through breathing exercises to aid in your recovery.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy is often used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain.
It may also be used before surgery to shrink cancers and make them easier to remove.
In some cases, chemotherapy can be used to relieve pain and other symptoms of advanced cancer.
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams from sources such as X-rays and protons to kill cancer cells.
Radiation therapy can be used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain.
It may also be used as the first treatment for lung cancers that can’t be removed during surgery.
For people with advanced lung cancer, radiation therapy may be used to relieve pain and other symptoms.
For people with lung cancers that are very small, one option may be stereotactic body radiotherapy.
This form of radiation aims many beams of radiation from different angles at the lung cancer.
Stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment is typically completed in one or a few treatments.
In certain cases, it may be used in place of surgery for small tumors.
Targeted therapies are newer cancer treatments that work by targeting specific abnormalities in cancer cells.
Targeted therapy drugs are often used in combination with chemotherapy drugs.
Your cancer cells will be tested in a laboratory to see if these drugs might help you.
Clinical trials are studies of experimental lung cancer treatments.
Carefully weigh your treatment options with your doctor.
Your participation in a clinical trial may help doctors better understand how to treat lung cancer in the future.
Those receiving supportive care reported improved mood and quality of life.
They survived, on average, almost three months longer than did those receiving standard care.
You may be concerned that receiving palliative care means you might’t undergo aggressive treatment for your cancer.
Many people with lung cancer experience shortness of breath at some point in the course of the disease.
Complementary and alternative lung cancer treatments can’t cure your cancer.
Your doctor can help you weigh the benefits and risks of complementary and alternative treatments.
With time you’ll find ways to cope with the distress and uncertainty of cancer.
