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Lung cancer: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and prevention

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1510508 Lung cancer in medicine means a whole group of malignant neoplasms arising from cells of lung tissue and bronchi.These tumors are characterized by very rapid growth and a tendency to metastasize.In the general structure of cancers, lung cancer occupies a leading position, with men suffering from it 6-7 times more often than women, and the risk of getting sick increases with age.

Table of Contents: Risk Factors for Lung Cancer Symptoms of Lung Cancer Stages of lung cancer Diagnosis of lung cancer Lung Cancer: Treatment of Lung Cancer: Forecast

Risk factors for lung cancer

Negative effects on lungs are inhaled with air carcinogens - substances that promote the development of neoplasms. The risk factors are:

  • smoking - about 85% of all patients with cancer are malignant smokers.In cigarette smoke contains about 100 different carcinogens, and smoking one pack of cigarettes a day increases the risk of oncology by 10-25 times;
  • work in harmful working conditions - work in hazardous industries, where a person constantly contacts heavy metals( lead, mercury, chrome), toxic compounds( arsenic, asbestos and others) contributes to the development of lung cancer;
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  • living in a polluted atmosphere - people living in industrial areas, near mining enterprises, breathe air with a high content of toxic substances, which contributes to lung cancer;
  • inflammatory lung diseases, in particular, tuberculosis and recurrent pneumonia;
  • contact with radioactive compounds;
  • Radiation load - X-ray diagnostic methods.

Symptoms of lung cancer

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The earlier lung cancer is suspected, the higher the probability of successful treatment.Therefore, it is important to know the signs of the disease. The clinical picture of lung cancer is manifested by the following symptoms:

  • cough, first dry, then moist;
  • hemoptysis - the growth of the tumor leads to the fact that a part of the blood vessels is destroyed and blood gets into the lumen of the bronchi which coughs out with a cough;
  • hoarseness of the voice - develops in the defeat of nerves( recurrent and diaphragmatic);
  • puffiness and swelling of the face due to compression of the growing vena cava;
  • respiratory failure - the lungs of a cancer patient cease to cope with respiratory function, dyspnea develops, general weakness.

All of the above symptoms relate to specific signs of lung cancer.In addition to them, the patient may be concerned about the common manifestations of cancer. The first symptoms include:

  • general weakness;
  • nausea;
  • weight loss;
  • prolonged low-grade fever.

Important: in advanced cases of lung cancer, the metastasis of which affects other organs, manifests itself as symptoms of damage to these organs.

Stage of lung cancer

According to the domestic classification, 4 degrees of lung cancer are identified:

  • Stage 1 - small tumor up to 3 cm in size, localized within a single pulmonary segment;
  • Stage 2 - a tumor up to 6 cm in size, localized within a single pulmonary segment, with metastasis to the pulmonary lymph nodes;
  • Stage 3 - tumor more than 6 cm, sprouting into the adjacent segment and having metastases to the pulmonary or mediastinal( mediastinal) lymph nodes;
  • Stage 4 - a tumor that sprouts into neighboring organs and has distant metastases( to the brain, liver, etc.).

1416284747_0 In accordance with these stages, the clinical picture of cancer develops - from an easy cough to cancerous pleurisy.Worst of all, he feels sick with lung cancer 4 degrees.At this stage, survival is extremely low - almost 100 patients die within a few weeks.Osnovnie-mesta-metastaz The international classification is more detailed and is carried out according to 3 indicators :

  • T - tumor( its dimensions),
  • N - lymph nodes( number of affected lymph nodes),
  • M - presence of metastases.

In the form of an index next to the letter, the tumor size( from 1 to 4), the affected lymph nodes( from 0 to 3) and the detected metastases are indicated( 0 - no, 1 - there are distant metastases).Note: thus most favorable diagnosis is as follows: T 1 N 0 M 0, and most unfavorable - T 4 N 3 M 1

Diagnosis lung cancer

diagnosis of lung cancer put under typical complaints and additional data inspection methods. Complaints for lung cancer are listed above.The laboratory instrumental diagnostic methods include:

  • fluorography and radiography of chest organs - allow to suspect cancer;
  • CT of lungs or MRI - allow to establish more precisely the boundaries of the tumor, to reveal metastatic damage to surrounding tissues;
  • bronchoscopy - allows to examine the bronchi from the inside, and if a tumor is detected - to conduct a biopsy for histological examination;
  • ultrasound diagnosis - through the chest wall.With its help, the size of the tumor and the degree of invasion into surrounding tissues are assessed;
  • blood test for tumor markers.Using this method, screening for lung cancer can be screened, and the quality and effectiveness of treatment can be assessed.

Lung Cancer: Treatment

impact: for the treatment of lung cancer are using surgical techniques, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.The popular treatment of lung cancer is quackery and leads to the progression of the disease, the growth of the tumor and the death of the patient.

Surgical treatment consists in removing the entire cancerous complex - tumor, regional lymph nodes, metastasis.Most often, the entire affected lung is removed with surrounding tissues.It is best to remove peripheral lung cancer.chemotherapy Radiation treatment with X-rays is performed after removal of the tumor.This method is also used for inoperable forms of lung cancer.The total dose of radiation is 60-70 Gray.Chemotherapy is prescribed only if the above two methods of treatment are ineffective.Apply cytostatic drugs, which suppress the growth of tumor cells.

For more information about new and effective methods of treatment of lung cancer, and projections for survival - in the video review:

Lung cancer: prognosis

All patients without exception are interested in the question: "How many live with lung cancer?".

The lifespan of such patients depends primarily on the stage at which cancer is detected.In patients with the first and second stage, the most favorable prognosis is the surgical removal of the lung tumor in combination with radiation therapy, which makes it possible to achieve almost complete cure of the cancer.In this case, the life expectancy is comparable to the life span of a healthy person.In patients with stage III, a complete cure is much less common.Life expectancy in them is up to several years with effective chemotherapy.At the IV stage of lung cancer, only palliative treatment is carried out, that is, treatment that allows only to alleviate the general condition of the patient.The life expectancy of patients at this stage rarely exceeds one year.

Note: if we talk about absolute numbers, the untreated lung cancer leads to the death of 90% of patients in the first 2 years after diagnosis.The remaining 10% die within the next 3 years.Surgical treatment allows to increase the survival rate to 30% within 5 years. The appearance of metastases of lung cancer worsens the prognosis - the cause of death in this case can be not the cancer itself, but the failure of the affected organ.People who, for one reason or another had to deal with the problems of the treatment of lung cancer, it will be interesting next video review:

Gudkov Roman, the doctor-resuscitator


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