The incidence of lung cancer is highly correlated with smoking. The above is an illustration for the United States incidence of lung cancer.Lung cancer distribution in the United States.
Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a malignant tumour of the lungs. Most commonly it is bronchogenic carcinoma (about 90%). Lung cancer is the most lethal malignant tumour worldwide, causing up to 3 million deaths annually. Only one in ten patients diagnosed with this disease will survive the next five years. Although lung cancer was previously an illness that affected predominately men, the lung cancer rate for women has been increasing in the last few decades, which has been attributed to the rising ratio of female to male smokers. more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
Amyotrophic lateral...
Bardet-Biedl syndrome
Labyrinthitis
Lafora disease
Landau-Kleffner syndrome
Langer-Giedion syndrome
Laryngeal papillomatosis
Laryngomalacia
Lassa fever
LCHAD deficiency
Leber optic atrophy
Ledderhose disease
Legg-Calvé-Perthes syndrome
Legionellosis
Legionnaire's disease
Leiomyoma
Leiomyosarcoma
Leishmaniasis
Lemierre's syndrome
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
Leprechaunism
Leprophobia
Leprosy
Leptospirosis
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Leukemia
Leukocyte adhesion...
Leukodystrophy
Leukomalacia
Leukoplakia
LGS
Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Lichen planus
Ligyrophobia
Limb-girdle muscular...
Limnophobia
Linonophobia
Lipodystrophy
Lipoid congenital adrenal...
Liposarcoma
Lissencephaly
Lissencephaly syndrome...
Listeriosis
Liticaphobia
Liver cirrhosis
Lobster hand
Locked-In syndrome
Loiasis
Long QT Syndrome
Long QT syndrome type 1
Long QT syndrome type 2
Long QT syndrome type 3
LSA
Lung cancer
Lupus erythematosus
Lyell's syndrome
Lygophobia
Lyme disease
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
Lymphedema
Lymphoma
Lymphosarcoma
Lysinuric protein...
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

The most important risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco smoking.

Treatment and prognosis depend upon the histological type of cancer and the stage (degree of spread). Possible treatment modalities include surgery, chemotherapy) and/or radiotherapy.

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms that suggest lung cancer include:

  • dyspnea (shortness of breath)
  • hemoptysis (coughing up blood)
  • chronic cough
  • wheezing
  • chest pain
  • cachexia (weight loss), fatigue and loss of appetite
  • dysphonia (hoarse voice)
  • clubbing of the fingernails (uncommon)

If the cancer grows into the lumen it may obstruct the airway, causing breathing difficulties. This can lead to accumulation of secretions behind the blockage, predisposing the patient to pneumonia.

Many lung cancers have a rich blood supply. The surface of the cancer may be fragile, leading to bleeding from the cancer into the airway. This blood may subsequently be coughed up.

Depending on the type of tumor, so-called paraneoplastic phenomena may initially attract attention to the disease. In lung cancer, this may be Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (muscle weakness due to auto-antibodies), hypercalcemia and SIADH. Tumors in the top (apex) of the lung, known as Pancoast tumors, may invade the local part of the sympathetic nervous system, leading to changed sweating patterns and eye muscle problems (a combination known as Horner's syndrome), as well as muscle weakness in the hands due to invasion of the brachial plexus.

In many patients, the cancer has already spread beyond the original site by the time they have symptoms and seek medical attention. Common sites of metastasis include the bone, such as the spine (causing back pain and occasionally spinal cord compression) and the brain.

Diagnosis

Performing a chest X-ray is the first step if a patient reports symptoms that may be suggestive of lung cancer. This may reveal an obvious mass, widening of the mediastinum (suggestive of spread to lymph nodes there), atelectasis (collapse), consolidation (infection) and pleural effusion. If there are no X-ray findings but the suspicion is high (e.g. a heavy smoker with blood-stained sputum), bronchoscopy and/or a CT scan may provide the necessary information. In any case, bronchoscopy or CT-guided biopsy is often necessary to identify the tumor type.

If investigations have confirmed lung cancer, scan results and often positron emission tomography (PET) are used to determine whether the disease is localised and amenable to surgery or whether it has spread to the point it cannot be cured surgically. PET is not useful as screening, as not all malignancies are positive on PET scan (such as bronchoalveolar carcinoma), and lung infections may be positive on PET Scan.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


What to Eat if You Have Cancer $9.98 High-Resolution Ct of the Lung $153.53
Lung Cancer: Principles and Practice $182.65 Mesothelioma $162.89
Lung Cancer: Myths, Facts, Choices--and Hope $8.45 Lung Cancer: Making Sense of Diagnosis, Treatment, and Options $5.74
Surviving Cancer $0.93 Pulmonary Pathology Tumors $98.39
Multimodality Treatment of Lung Cancer (Lung Biology in Health and Disease, V. 140) $145.00 100 Questions & Answers About Lung Cancer $7.16

Joan's Legacy Strolling Supper benefit at Times Square Studios raises $ and awareness for lung cancer research
Joan's Legacy: The Joan Scarangello Foundation to Conquer Lung Cancer held its fourth annual Strolling Supper with Blues & News on November 15, raising ...
Does preoperative transbronchial biopsy worsen the postsurgical prognosis of lung cancer : a propensity score-adjusted analysis
Study objectives: Our aim was to clarify the hypothesis that the postsurgical prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) proven by ...
Radiofrequency ablation of primary lung cancer : results from an ablate and resect pilot study
Study objectives: The role of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for primary lung cancer remains poorly defined. The purpose of this "ablate and resect" ...
Locally recurrent central-type early stage lung cancer < 1.0 cm in diameter after complete remission by photodynamic therapy
Background: It is well known that central-type early stage lung cancer < 1.0 cm in diameter shows almost 100% complete response (CR) to photodynamic ...
Phase II study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine in resectable non-small cell lung cancer
Objective: We assessed the efficacy of a non-platinum-containing doublet chemotherapy of gemcitabine and vinorelbine as induction therapy prior to surgical ...
Role of quantitative CT in predicting hypoxemia and complications after lung lobectomy for cancer, with special reference to area of emphysema
Study objectives: To determine the ability of quantitative CT, with special reference to area of emphysema, to predict early postoperative oxygenation ...
The place of patient satisfaction in quality assessment of lung cancer thoracic surgery
Study objectives: To compare the quality of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) surgical care with patient satisfaction. Design: Prospective study.
Are COPD and lung cancer two manifestations of the same disease?
COPD and lung cancer loom as two of our greatest challenges in pulmonary medicine. Both are smoking-related diseases that cluster in families ant] worsen ...

Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay