Among other oncological diseases, lung cancer is leading in the frequency of occurrence. The particular danger of this disease is prolonged secretive course. Compared with other types of malignant neoplasms, this form gives metastases faster. The frequency of the disease depends on many factors. Statistics inexorably shows that every year more and more cases of this terrible disease are recorded.
General view
Scientists were able to identify that they can provoke lung cancer:
- heredity;
- accommodations;
- level of industrialization of the area;
- climate;
- production factors affecting humans.
The role is played by age (higher risk of getting sick for the elderly) and gender.
The causes of lung cancer to this day by doctors have not been thoroughly studied. Based on statistical data, it was possible to compile a list of provoking factors that to one degree or another affect the development of the malignant process. In the first place, according to scientists, is the quality of the air that a person breathes. Higher risk of lung cancer if air:
Hazardous polluting components are recognized:
- asbestos;
- bismuth;
- grain dust;
- arsenic;
- industrial resins.
Bad habits and cancer
It's no secret that lung cancer can be triggered by smoking. One cigarette, when burned, releases many substances that have carcinogenic qualities. Smoke leads to a narrowing of blood vessels, bronchial lumens, overdries the mucous membranes of the respiratory system, reduces the body's ability to cleanse, defend itself from aggressive factors. Studies show that the highest probability of the appearance of symptoms, signs of lung cancer in a person who smokes 20 cigarettes daily for two decades.
Cigarette smoke contains tobacco tar - a poisonous, dangerous substance that can provoke cancer not only in humans, but also in animals. Tested to confirm this, tests were conducted on rabbits. When the animal’s ear comes in contact with a dangerous compound, the animal develops an oncological disease after some time.
Lifestyle and Disease
The risks are higher to learn from your own experience what are the signs of lung cancer in people living under conditions of constant exposure to factors harmful to the respiratory system. In residents of large cities, malignant neoplasms are, on average, recorded more often than in residents of rural areas. Doctors explain this by the evaporation of asphalt, released in extreme heat - formaldehyde and other harmful compounds get into the air. All this affects a person whose immune system is already weakened by environmental factors: when living in rural areas, the body's natural defenses are much higher, but city dwellers cannot boast of this.
You are more likely to experience symptoms of lung cancer in people who regularly have lung disease and have had a viral infection of their respiratory organs. Risk factors:
- pneumosclerosis against a background of an illness;
- chronic inflammation localized in the respiratory system.
The risk of oncology is greater if there are lung cancer cases among close relatives.
Location and pathology
Among men, the most victims of pulmonary oncology are:
- England.
- Luxembourg.
- The Netherlands.
The number of deaths among women for this reason is greater in:
Less than others are susceptible to cancer:
- Brazilians
- Syrians
- Salvadorans.
Lung cancer in women is less common than in men. Scientists explain this by the connection of pathology and lifestyle: representatives of the stronger half work more often in harmful production conditions. In addition, the percentage of smokers is also higher among men.
The incidence rate is more significant in areas where natural factors cause an increased radiation background, as well as in areas affected by radioactive contamination.
Varieties
It is customary to distinguish two types of disease:
This division is accepted internationally. Based on the following case features:
- the presence of metastases;
- neoplasm size;
- stage of pathology;
- involvement of the lymphatic system.
Assessing the degree of lung cancer, the doctor makes an opinion on the occasion.
Central cancer
The disease got its name because of its localization: large bronchi are the first to suffer. A malignant neoplasm grows inside the bronchus, can spread along the walls, leading to a decrease in the lumen, eventually completely blocking it. The lung element, devoid of air, subsides, which leads to atelectasis. The secondary inflammatory process begins, the lung tissue disintegrates - usually this occurs with stage 4 lung cancer, possibly with a third.
The neoplasm gradually grows through the bronchial walls, initiating inflammatory processes in the lymph nodes located nearby tissues. A tumor is a dense conglomerate. The one who can detect lung cancer early in life can expect a better outcome. The forecast is completely determined by the stage.
Peripheral cancer
The neoplasm is formed in the small bronchus, grows outward, sometimes fills the alveoli, which leads to cancer resembling pneumonia. An alternative way of development is the appearance of large foci of lung cancer. Symptoms and signs in the early stages are absent, the disease does not manifest itself for years. On average, the asymptomatic stage is estimated at 3-5 years. It is almost impossible to identify pathology at this time.
Under the influence of external factors, at any moment the tumor can unpredictably grow expansively, reaching impressive dimensions in short time periods. Provoke such a process can:
- pneumonia against a background of viral, bacterial infection;
- physiotherapy;
- prolonged exposure to direct sunlight;
- weakening of the immune system;
- frequent stay in saunas, baths.
There is no specific difference in the symptoms of the disease in men and women. The peculiarity of the peripheral form - lung cancer in the early stages is almost impossible to detect. In later diseases, the manifestation is similar to the central type.
Symptomatology
The first signs are quite blurry, there are no specific manifestations, so patients rarely pay attention to health problems. In the early stages, lung cancer manifests itself:
- fatigue
- decreased appetite;
- weight loss;
- coughing.
It is possible to suspect that the cause is an oncological disease if sputum produces a characteristic sputum that is similar in color to rust. Early lung cancer can be suspected by:
- shortness of breath
- expectoration of blood.
Gradually, a pain syndrome is added to these manifestations, indicating that the disease has spread to nearby tissues and organs.
The initial stages of central, peripheral cancer do not manifest themselves at all or are marked by very weak symptoms, since the lungs do not have nerve endings responsible for pain. The organ has increased compensatory abilities, only a quarter of the lungs already provide the body with the necessary oxygen. For this reason, the symptoms of lung cancer at an early stage are invisible, the tumor develops over the years. There are cases when the age of cancer at the time of detection was estimated at a decade.
It is customary to talk about three phases of the disease:
- Biological (from the moment of appearance to detection on x-rays).
- Asymptomatic stage of lung cancer.
- Clinical when the patient is faced with all the symptoms of the process.
How does it all start?
In the first two stages there are no unpleasant sensations, health is in order, the disease does not bother. To notice signs of lung cancer in the early stages and only a vanishingly small percentage of patients manage to consult a doctor. Sometimes in the second, more often in the third stage, the first manifestations appear, often similar to various pulmonary diseases, which often leads to an incorrect diagnosis.
The symptoms of lung cancer that come first are fatigue, decreased vitality, fatigue when doing the most simple, familiar, everyday activities. A person feels that there is no interest in what was interesting before, events that are not attracting attention, working capacity decreases. At the same time, fatigue is constantly worrying. All this is manifested by characteristic turns of speech:
- "I'm sick of it all!".
- “How tired I am of everything!”
The progress of the disease is accompanied by conditions similar to bronchitis, colds, pneumonia and catarrh of the respiratory tract. Symptoms of lung cancer include a temporary increase in temperature to 37-37.5 ° C, after which the indicator returns to normal, then rises again. The use of anti-inflammatory non-steroidal, antipyretic, alternative medicine only for a while stops the unpleasant manifestation, but it constantly comes back again and again. Among people who are attentive to their health, it is precisely by this symptom that they most often discover the oncological process - a condition that is worrying enough to go to the doctor to find out the reasons.
Characteristic manifestations: what to look for?
One of the symptoms of lung cancer is a cough. First, a rare cough, a dry cough is possible. With the central form, the cough is unproductive, there is no sputum. Over time, the symptom intensifies, becomes permanent, the cough becomes harsh. This indicates that the malignant process has affected large bronchi.
The disease is accompanied by:
- angina pectoris;
- shortness of breath
- respiratory failure.
With such symptoms of lung cancer, we can confidently say that the disease has gone far, the vast pulmonary lobes are not involved in the act of breathing, and the vascular bed has decreased significantly. Symptoms may be due to neoplasm pressure on the mediastinum.
As a rule, if the first manifestations were left unattended, the patient comes to the doctor when sputum when coughing is expectorated with blood inclusions. The cause of blood veins is a violation of the integrity of the bronchial wall, mucous membranes of the respiratory organs, and blood vessels. Such a symptom of lung cancer indicates a neglected process. Probably diagnosed with a third stage or even a fourth.
Recent stages of lung cancer: manifestations
When progress has already gone far, in the half of the chest where the neoplasm has formed, pain is worried. There are cases when pain was taken for neuralgia, since the manifestations are similar. The intensity varies quite a lot from case to case, a lot depends on the defeat of the pleura. Tumor growth leads to increased pain, since fascia inside the chest, nerve endings between the ribs are involved in the process. The patient’s condition becomes especially serious when the tumor affects the ribs, initiating destructive processes. Sensations are not only strong, but also do not stop painkillers.
Another symptom is known, indicating a late stage of pulmonary cancer, - food moves along the esophagus with difficulty. This is due to the state of the lymphatic system: metastases accumulate in the nodes, which leads to their increase in size and pressure on the esophagus. When observing extrapulmonary symptoms, the fourth stage is diagnosed. This diagnosis is made if metastases are found outside the lung.
There are cases when, at a late stage, patients still did not suspect that the problem was in the lungs, and with orphaning manifestations of ill health, they turned to orthopedists or cardiologists, and other narrow specialists.
Diagnostics
If lung cancer is suspected, the first study the patient will be referred to is an x-ray of the chest. Medical statistics show that about 60% of all cases of the disease were detected on preventive fluorography - the results of the examination made it possible to notice malignant processes before a person felt the symptoms of the disease. You can identify the disease at different stages, including the initial ones.
Statistics say that:
- 5-15% of cases are detected in the first stage;
- about a third of patients - in the second stage;
- 50-75% are in the third stage;
- one in ten is the fourth stage.
Doctors advise to undergo fluorography every two years, although you can do it twice as often: at the initial stages, lung cancer cannot be detected even on x-rays, but the disease is characterized by an expansive type of development, when in a short time under the influence of a provoking factor, the neoplasm reaches a large size.
Diagnostic Methods: X-ray
Radiography is the first, main way to detect a malignant neoplasm. Take pictures in two projections perpendicular to each other. If a suspicious focus is noticed, a course of stopping the inflammatory process, that is, treatment against pneumonia, is prescribed. At the end of therapy, a follow-up check is performed. In the absence of improvements, differential diagnosis is required, which can show one of two options:
To determine the exact diagnosis, histological examination is necessary. There are many known cases of concomitant illness, which significantly complicates the treatment. A histological examination is usually carried out following the results of a surgical procedure, removing the neoplasm and examining it under laboratory conditions.
Diagnosis: high-precision studies
As follows from medical reviews, lung cancer can be accurately diagnosed by analyzing the results of the study through computed tomography. This method makes it possible to assess the size of the neoplasm and identify small foci indistinguishable in an x-ray. The doctor can see how much more normal the patient’s lymph nodes are, and also receives other specific information about the patient’s condition. True, even computed tomography does not allow to formulate the diagnosis with 100% accuracy. To confirm, it is necessary to conduct a histological examination.
The most accurate method is a biopsy, however, the procedure is fraught with the danger of expansive growth of the damaged area of ​​atypical cells. In addition, albeit small, but still there is a risk of introducing an atypical cell into the circulatory system, and this will lead to the formation of metastases. As a rule, before a biopsy, doctors ask the patient for consent to remove the tumor immediately if the diagnosis is confirmed. You should be prepared for such an outcome and not delay the decision.
Another method available to modern doctors for assessing the patient's condition and clarifying the diagnosis is bronchoscopy. The term refers to an x-ray of a bronchial tree using a contrast medium. Doctors get a detailed picture of the patency of different parts of the organ, and can also detect a neoplasm.
Finally, the patient is prescribed a blood test to identify cancer markers.
What to do?
If it was possible to establish the disease at an early stage, the patient is sent for surgery. After a histological analysis of the obtained biological samples, the patient is prescribed an antitumor course, chemotherapy, radiation therapy to prevent relapse. If the tumor was removed on time, at the time of the operation was small, the patient completely underwent the treatment recommended by the doctor, according to the results of the five-year time period since the end of the relapse, the person is considered to be completely cured. In the later stages, when the tumor has reached a large size, the operation is not possible. Only radiation methods and chemotherapy are available.
From medical practice, there are quite a few cases when a malignant neoplasm showed the correct response to treatment, over time it became smaller in size, which means that the patient's life was extended.
About forecasts
It should be understood that without medical intervention, lung cancer is fatal in 100% of cases. Folk remedies also will not help - oncology requires a highly qualified approach and the use of the most modern techniques.
Almost half of patients who did not have the opportunity to receive therapy die during the first year of the course of the disease. A five-year term lives on less than one percent, and a three-year term is available only to three percent of people who avoid treatment.
How to warn?
The difficulties of prevention are caused by insufficiently accurate information about the causes of malignant processes in the respiratory system. Based on the information currently known, one should protect oneself from negative external factors and avoid industrial areas where they work with arsenic, asbestos and other carcinogens. You should completely give up smoking, avoiding even passive. . , , , .
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To minimize the chance of a malignant neoplasm, you will have to completely abandon any bad habits, monitor immunity, add fresh fruits and vegetables to the diet. Apples are considered especially beneficial.
What are the implications?
If lung cancer is confirmed, it is necessary to refer the patient for additional studies in order to assess the scope of the process. To do this, organize the following studies:
- skeletal scintigraphy;
- bone marrow check;
- ultrasound of the liver;
- CT scan of the brain.
Cancer Prevention: Domestic and Foreign Experience
Every seventh cancer patient in our country suffers from lung cancer. To some extent, this is due to the unwillingness of the population to regularly receive radiation doses, undergoing a preventive fluorographic examination - many hope that their misfortune will be avoided, so there is no point in exposing the body to stress once again.
It is not the first year that European countries have introduced regular mandatory screening of the population by computed tomography. The procedure takes only a few minutes, and the radiation dose is much lower than with a photographic examination, so CT is considered a completely safe medical method. In addition, the finished images are highly accurate, which means that you can notice cancer at an early stage or refute the suspicion of oncology.
Experts believe that if it is possible to instill such a culture of prevention in Russia, the frequency of diagnosing lung cancer in the later stages will decrease markedly, which means that the survival rate will increase.
Features of the operation
Radical surgery is available only to one or two people out of every ten cancer patients, that is, those who have been diagnosed with the disease at the beginning. For removal, they often resort to a thoracoscopic method. The operation is technically complex, not available in any case, much depends on the features of localization, the size of the neoplasm. The logic is as follows: small incisions are created through which atypical cells are removed. In this case, minimal damage is done to healthy tissues nearby.
The thoracoscopic method differs from the open classical method only in the degree of trauma, and the essence and limitations are similar. Only a neoplasm in the first two stages can be removed in this way, if it is localized in the accessible part of the lung. The thoracoscopic method is not used if metastases are detected, atypical cells affect the lymph nodes.
Alternative methods: features
Chemotherapy in inoperable cases shows efficacy in 20-30% of patients. The duration of treatment is up to one and a half years, between the courses they take monthly breaks. From the very beginning, radiation and medications can be combined.
Only patients who have undergone a course of brain irradiation have the possibility of complete remission, since lung cancer very often metastases to this area. Combined therapy with a localized neoplasm allows in 90% of cases to achieve a serious improvement, almost half is completely cured.
Cancer Treatment: Foreign Practices
The use of the most modern methods, the latest equipment, the most effective drugs in some cases avoids surgery. The advantage of this approach is the preservation of the integrity of the lung, but perhaps this is only in the early stages and when undergoing therapy in a clinic that has all the necessary equipment and medicines. This is currently only available in some advanced countries.
If it was decided to do the operation, two options are possible:
In the first case, one part of the organ affected by the malignant neoplasm is removed, in the second, a few or even the lung is completely. Pulmonectomy is practiced if there is a suspicion of the spread of malignant cells within the body.
If there is no hope for a cure, surgery can be performed to reduce the size of the tumor, remove metastases from organs, whose functionality is especially important for the life of the body.
Non-invasive methods
Chemotherapy is indispensable if small cell carcinoma is detected that grows very quickly - it is almost impossible to remove such a neoplasm. An obvious drawback of the approach is the harm caused by drugs along with atypical cells to healthy ones. A lot of cases have been recorded in medicine when chemotherapy was the only way that was really effective at least to some extent. It is necessary to choose drugs individually, taking into account the results of a histological examination. Therapy is always course, and during the intervals the body gets the opportunity to recover. At the end of the course, the patient is sent for tomography to monitor the results of the process.
Radiation therapy involves exposure to atypical cells with radiation. Since radiation slows down the vital activity of cells prone to rapid cell division, the tumor suffers first. Modern devices allow you to direct a narrow wave beam to the neoplasm. The procedure involves minimal harm to healthy areas. The most effective method is the use of a special probe, through which radiation is sent directly to the affected area. Certain types of cancer can only be treated with this method. Radiotherapy is indispensable for patients for whom, for various reasons, surgical intervention is contraindicated. This method is considered the most effective if it is necessary to reduce metastases, their destruction in the lymphatic system.