What Is Lung Cancer?

: Admin : 2021-10-04

Cancer is a dreadful, noxious disease, name comes from Latin word for carb, an arthropod which has finger like projections that spread and cause detrimental harm to lives of human beings. A malignant cancerous growth spreads in a similar manner progressively  destroying  healthy tissues of the body.

Lungs are vital organs of the body in your chest that breath in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Carcinoma of lungs is a common cause of death world wide. Smoking cigarettes often leads to cancer of lungs. However, it is also observed in people who do not have any addiction to smoking. The cause is at times not known in many patients, but few carcinogenic chemicals are held responsible for causing cancerous growths in healthy human beings.

A patient who has persistent cough, drops of blood while coughing, difficulty while breathing, hoarseness, chest pain, bone pain, headache and weight loss should consult a physician. An X-ray, CT scan, MRI and PET scan are diagnostic  procedures that detect areas of cancerous tissues. Biopsy is done using a bronchoscope which confirms cancerous lesions. In an advanced stage, the malignancy spreads to more distant organs like brain and bones.

Treatment of lung cancer depends on the extent of spread of malignant tissues. Chemotherapy in the form of drugs that kill cancerous cells is administered to patients. It helps to shrink the size of tumours.  Radiation therapy in the form of high energy rays is used to kill cancerous growths. Electric current through a needle termed as radiofrequency ablation is one method used to kill cancerous cells. Targeted therapy restricts further growth of a tumour. Immunotherapy fights the cancerous cells. Surgical excision of the lung tissue is done in advance stage to increase life span of the patient to certain extent. Palliative measures in the form of oxygen therapy and pain relief medications help in management of symptoms.

Early detection, screening of patients at a risk of developing lung cancer help in preventing and control the spread of cancerous growth. Minor symptoms should not be neglected and treated as an emergency at its initial phase so patient gets cured and recovers from carcinoma of lungs.