In the modern world, oncology is one of the main ills of mankind. Every year, the world loses about 8 million people who failed to overcome this insidious disease. Lung cancer is quite aggressive, because it is developing rapidly.
Sad statistics
The prevalence of lung cancer ranks first among all other malignant diseases. So, every year this diagnosis is made to one million people, 60% of whom die. In Russia, this pathology accounts for about 12% of the total number of cancer cases. Among all cancer deaths, 15% die from lung cancer.
In addition, among the male population, the disease occurs three times more often than among the female. Every fourth man with oncology suffers from this disease, while among women - only every twelfth.
Causes of Lung Cancer
Of course, the main factor contributing to the development of this pathology is the person's addiction to smoking. Statistics say that 80% of all lung cancer patients have smoked for a long time. A cigarette contains a huge amount of harmful substances, of which about 60 have a carcinogenic effect (the ability to cause cancer).
The risk of developing cancer in nicotine addicts is twenty times higher than that of non-smokers. After how many years of smoking lung cancer develops, it's hard to say. The fact is that the risk of developing the disease is directly dependent on the duration of smoking, the daily number of cigarettes, as well as the percentage of nicotine and other carcinogens in them.
The stronger cigarettes a person smokes, the more often and longer he does it, the more he exposes himself to the risk of developing malignant processes in his lungs.
The same applies to passive smokers who do not voluntarily become victims of tobacco smoke. In 1977, scientists found that wives and children of men who were addicted to cigarettes had cancer 3 times more often than non-smoking families. How much lung cancer develops with this lifestyle, one can only guess, but practice shows that sometimes 5-10 years are enough.
In addition, in the post-war period, the number of smokers increased sharply in the countries, as a result of which literally over 10 years the number of patients with lung cancer almost doubled.
Another reason for the spread of pulmonary oncology is the difficult environmental situation in a number of countries. With large-scale industrial development and the destruction of nature in the air there are constantly a number of hazardous substances that settle in the upper respiratory tract, causing pathological cell division.
A provoking factor can be the frequent and prolonged exposure of harmful substances (asbestos dust, ether vapors of chloromethyl and others) to the human respiratory system. This is especially true for workers in the construction industry, chemical and drug production.
At risk are also people suffering from chronic diseases of the respiratory system or from pulmonary fibrosis.
Do not forget about such a significant provoking factor as heredity. It is hard to say how much lung cancer develops in people who have blood relatives with pulmonary oncology. But, as a rule, the course of the disease in such patients is more rapid than in the rest.
Therefore, this group of people needs to carefully monitor the condition of their lungs. To do this, completely stop smoking, inhaling any other harmful substances and regularly undergo preventive examinations
Stages of the disease
Like any other oncological process, lung cancer proceeds in several stages. They differ from each other in the severity of symptoms, tumor size, the presence of metastases and their number.
The sooner a tumor is diagnosed and appropriate measures are taken, the greater the patient's chances of healing and prolonging life.
Zero stage
It is characterized by the absence of any symptoms, small tumor size, and the complexity of the diagnosis. For example, fluorography is often not able to notice a small formation.
Symptoms are either very mild or completely absent.
First stage
The tumor in size does not exceed three centimeters in diameter. Pleural tissue and lymph nodes are not yet affected. Diagnosis is possible, but in practice, only ten percent of patients show a neoplasm at this stage. At the beginning of treatment at the first stage, the prognosis is very favorable - the survival rate for the next five years is 95%.
Due to the small size of the tumor, specific symptoms are absent, but signs of general malaise are possible, namely:
- constant weakness and lethargy;
- feeling of apathy;
- decreased overall tone;
- periodic increase in temperature to subfebrile values, without signs of a cold illness.
Second stage
A malignant neoplasm at this stage has a diameter of three to five centimeters, while the appearance of metastases in bronchial lymph nodes may be noted.
Diagnostic methods can easily detect neoplasms. About a third of all cases are detected by doctors at this stage.
How quickly metastases develop in lung cancer depends on the type of oncology. In the shortest possible time, they are formed and spread throughout the body in patients with small cell cancer. A characteristic feature of the second stage is the appearance of severe symptoms of the disease.
There are various signs that lung cancer is developing. Symptoms may include:
- causeless cough, without other signs of a viral or bacterial infection;
- the occurrence of pain with a deep breath;
- hoarseness of voice;
- decreased or lack of appetite;
- weight loss;
- the appearance of shortness of breath.
Another alarming “bell” may be the too frequent occurrence of bronchitis and pneumonia.
Third stage
Depending on how quickly lung cancer develops, this stage is divided into two stages:
Stage 3a. The tumor has a diameter of more than five centimeters. Damaged pleura and chest wall. Metastases reach the bronchial and lymph nodes. The prognosis is favorable only in 30% of patients. More than 50% of all cases of lung cancer are diagnosed at this stage.
Stage 3b. As lung cancer develops, the size of the tumor increases. The main feature of this stage is the involvement of the vascular machine, esophagus, heart and spine in the process.
Basically, the prognosis is unfavorable.
How long lung cancer develops at this stage is impossible to answer. However, almost always at this stage there is a vivid symptomatology of the process. The patient may experience:
- excruciating, persistent cough with separation of bloody or purulent sputum;
- constant pain in the chest area, which intensifies with inhalation;
- severe weight loss;
- complete loss of appetite;
- constant shortness of breath, occurring even with the slightest physical exertion;
- fever;
- regular bronchitis and pneumonia;
- when listening, wheezing appears in the lungs;
- pain in the shoulder girdle;
- numbness of the fingertips;
- regular occurrence of dizziness and headache;
- vision and hearing may be impaired.
If cancer is detected at this stage, the chances of the patient recovering are greatly reduced.
Fourth stage
How much lung cancer develops to this stage, individually for each individual case. However, all of them are united by one thing - uncontrolled metastasis of the tumor. Metastases spread throughout the body, settling in the tissues of the brain, liver, pancreas and other organs. Oncologists give a disappointing prognosis to patients at this stage. Almost 100% of the disease is fatal.
In the last stage of lung cancer , the symptoms are especially pronounced. The patient suffers from symptoms such as:
- strong, asphyxiating cough with bloody sputum;
- chest pain can be very intense;
- shortness of breath is observed even at rest;
- weakness;
- refusal to eat;
- angina pectoris;
- digestion disorders.
It is worth noting that the above stages are relevant only in cases such as the development of non-small cell lung cancer.
There is also small cell lung cancer - an oncological disease that arises from the epithelial cells of the bronchi. This type is characterized by a high degree of malignancy, a long absence of symptoms and a very rapid development, therefore in oncology there are only two stages of the process:
- The tumor is located within the same lung and nearby tissues.
- The tumor begins to metastasize and goes beyond the affected lung tissue.
Symptoms are similar to those for non-small cell carcinoma, however, they manifest themselves less pronounced and remain invisible for a long time. With small cell cancer, the prognosis is less favorable. Even when measures are taken in the first stage, five-year survival is as low as 40%.
How long does lung cancer develop?
Of course, each case is unique, and the exact amount of time is impossible to name. Therefore, in order for severe symptoms of the disease to begin to appear, it may take from one month to several years.
In practice, there are cases when a few months after the onset of the first symptoms, lung cancer claimed the life of the patient. It happens the other way around - a person lives and does not feel any symptoms for many years.
It happens that the patient's symptoms begin to appear already at the last stage. Such people seek medical help too late. And oncologists cannot give an exact answer how many years lung cancer in such a patient has developed. It can be several months, or maybe many years.
People who managed to defeat the disease leave feedback on how lung cancer developed. Some argue that for a long time they did not have any symptoms. The tumor was diagnosed randomly, at stages 1 or 2. After the operation and several courses of chemotherapy, they managed to defeat the disease and stay alive. All that is required of them now is to periodically undergo appropriate examinations and take blood tests. This is done in order to monitor the possible re-occurrence of oncology. Other patients felt weak and unwell already in the first stage, after which they immediately sought medical help and thereby saved their lives.
It is worth noting that the patient’s morale has a significant effect on how quickly lung cancer develops. If a person when making such a diagnosis does not perceive him as a sentence, does not lose heart and does not give up, then his chances of a successful outcome are significantly increased. And this is confirmed by the reviews of patients. How lung cancer develops can be said to depend on the patient himself.
In addition, according to statistics, in most cases a person is killed not by the tumor itself, but by its metastases. Therefore, it is so important to diagnose cancer on time and take appropriate measures for its treatment.
Lung cancer treatments
Surgical intervention
Actual only in case of non-small cell cancer. Under general anesthesia, the surgeon opens the chest, after which the tumor is excised completely or partially. The main task of the doctor is to extract as much malignant tissue as possible. The more the tumor will be removed, the higher the chances of healing the patient. However, it is worth noting that this treatment method is not always possible. For example, the operation of patients at stages 3-4 of the process is in most cases impractical, since the tumor already grows into neighboring tissues and metastasizes. It will be very difficult for such a patient to recover from surgery.
Chemotherapy
Often used as the main method. Chemotherapy is the treatment of a patient with drugs with antitumor activity. Depending on how quickly lung cancer develops, this method is divided into several types:
- Neoadjuvant - it is prescribed in cases where there is no metastasis and it is planned to conduct surgery to remove the tumor. Before surgery, it is necessary to destroy the malignant cells.
- Adjuvant - such chemotherapy is performed after surgery. The main goal of treatment is to destroy the remaining tumor cells.
- Systemic - used in those patients who are too late to have surgery (in the last stages of cancer). Therefore, in such patients, chemotherapy is the main method of treatment.
Radiotherapy
A treatment method in which a malignant tumor is irradiated with gamma rays. These rays have a destructive effect on cancer cells, interfere with their growth and reproduction. The tumor itself is exposed to radiation, as well as places subject to metastasis. The method can also be used for non-small cell cancer.
This area of oncology treatment has advanced far. Recently, many radiation options have appeared that can destroy the tumor as much as possible with minimal harm to healthy tissues. So, one of the newest methods is high-dose brachytherapy, when the radiation source is an implant, which is surgically placed in the human body in the immediate vicinity of the tumor and destroys it.
Another newest method is the radioactive therapy IMRT RAPID Arc, in which absolutely the entire radiation dose is directed to the neoplasm, without affecting healthy organs.
The above 3 treatment methods are the main ones. However, there are a number of other cancer control methods.
Targeted or targeted anticancer therapy
It consists in the use of a number of special drugs (Erlotinib, Gefitinib and the like) that recognize the specific signs of tumor cells and inhibit their growth and spread.
These drugs have high therapeutic activity. In addition, they are able to disrupt the processes of blood supply to the tumor. This treatment method can be used both as the main therapy, and together with chemotherapy, thereby increasing the chances of the patient recovering.
Palliative care
It is used when the prognosis of the disease is disappointing. All that remains for the doctors is the conduct of symptomatic treatment in order to alleviate the suffering of the patient and maximize his life. Most often, palliative treatment consists of taking painkillers.
Conclusion
Lung cancer is a dangerous disease with rapid development and high mortality. How much lung cancer a particular person develops is not known to anyone. There are cases when patients had a fulminant course of the disease. Therefore, it is extremely important to regularly undergo preventive medical examinations and fluorographic examinations. In addition, you should very responsibly monitor your health and overall well-being, giving up bad habits, especially smoking.
How did lung cancer develop? Testimonials of patients claimed that the most difficult thing is to find out about the diagnosis and be able to accept it. The main thing is a moral attitude and a desire to fight against such a strong enemy as oncology.