Defining Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer, reason being that the lungs are mostly exposed to the environment compared to other organs. We mostly inhale cancer causing substances in the air which later causes cell damage and afterwards become cancer. The well known cause of cancer is smoking. Cancer has two main types: non-small-cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Non-small-cell-lung cancer is a term used to define all cancers that are not small-cell.
The treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer is the same on all. They make up the biggest percentage of all lung cancers. Each cell is named after the cell that caused the cancer. The most common types of non-small-cell lung cancer in the United States are:
- Adenocarcinoma/bronchoalvelaor
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Large-cell carcinoma
Like all other cancers, lung cancer is treatable if caught early enough. This is because it may not have grown big enough or stretched to other body parts.
There are a number of non-small-cell lung cancer symptoms. It is mostly caused by a metastatic disease or the primary tumor. The primary tumor mostly damages neighboring tissues, nerves or blood vessels. Metastatic cancer may also cause the same predicaments in other body parts. Many people who have lung cancer have no symptoms; they are mostly detected when carrying out other test like chest x-ray. Most symptoms depend on the size of the primary tumor; the location in the lung, the neighboring affected areas and the tumor metastasis sites. The main symptoms of the primary cancer include:
- Cough
- Difficulty taking a deep breath
- Shortness of breath
- Wheezing
- Pneumonia
- Coughing or spitting blood
- Chest pains
- Hoarseness
The symptoms of the metastatic lung cancer depend on the size and location. It mostly spreads to the adrenal glands, the bones, the brain and the liver.
Surgery is mostly preferred for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer if it has not spread to other areas. For you to confirm the spread of the cancerous cells you could get a biopsy, and a chest scan will show you where the tumor is located. Once the removal of the tumor is done through surgery it is advisable to follow it up with treatment through chemotherapy and radiation to make sure no cells have survived. A cancer that spreads through lymph nodes is not likely to be treated through surgery and it may lead to the spread of other tumors in the body.
There are other new forms of treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer available laser therapy, biotherapy and photodynamic. The survival rate of people with early non-small-cell lung cancer is 50% but once it advances it drops to 2%.There are however new tests being carried out to get advanced treatments.
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