Lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the lungs. Your lungs are two spongy organs in your chest that take in oxygen when you inhale and release carbon dioxide when you exhale.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
People who smoke have the greatest risk of lung cancer, though lung cancer can also occur in people who have never smoked. The risk of lung cancer increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes you've smoked. If you quit smoking, even after smoking for many years, you can significantly reduce your chances of developing lung cancer.
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Lung cancer is the top cause of cancer deaths in both men and women. But this wasn't always the case. Prior to the widespread use of mechanical cigarette rollers, lung cancer was rare. Today, smoking causes nearly 9 out of 10 lung cancer deaths, while radon gas, pollution, and other things play a smaller role. Newly developed drugs provide new hope for those diagnosed today.
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Cigarettes are packed with cancer-causing chemicals. They also disarm the lungs' natural defense system. The airways are lined with tiny hairs called cilia. To protect the lungs, they sweep out toxins, bacteria, and viruses. Tobacco smoke stops the cilia from doing their job. This lets the cancer-causing chemicals build up.
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Lung cancer begins quietly. There are usually no symptoms or warning signs in the early stages. As it gets worse, you may notice:
A type of scan called spiral CT may pick up early lung cancers in some people, but it's not clear whether it finds them early enough to save lives.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that heavy smokers ages 55-80 get a CT scan every year. The same goes for those who used to smoke a lot and quit less than 15 years ago.
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If your doctor thinks you might have lung cancer -- for instance, because you have a long-lasting cough or wheezing -- you’ll get a chest X-ray or other imaging tests. You may also need to cough up phlegm for a sputum test. If either of these tests suggest that you could have cancer, you'll probably need to get a biopsy.
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Small-cell lung cancer is more aggressive, meaning it can spread quickly to other parts of the body early in the disease. It is strongly tied to cigarette use and is rare in nonsmokers. Non-small-cell lung cancer grows more slowly and is more common. It's responsible for almost 85% of all lung cancers.
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Staging describes how far someone’s cancer has spread. Small-cell lung cancer is divided into two stages: "Limited" means the cancer is confined to one lung and maybe nearby lymph nodes. "Extensive" means the cancer has spread to the other lung or beyond. Non-small-cell lung cancer is assigned a stage of I through IV, depending on how far it has spread.
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When doctors find non-small-cell lung cancer before it spreads beyond one lung, an operation can sometimes help. The surgeon may remove the part of the lung that has the tumor, or if necessary, the entire lung. Some people get radiation or chemotherapy afterward to kill any remaining cancer cells. Surgery usually doesn’t help with small-cell lung cancer because it probably has already spread before diagnosis.
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When lung cancer spreads too far to be cured, treatments may still help people live longer and have a better quality of life. Radiation and chemotherapy can shrink tumors and help control symptoms, such as bone pain or blocked airways. Chemotherapy is usually the main treatment for small-cell lung cancer.
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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for men and women. But if you don’t smoke and you avoid other people’s smoke, that will greatly lower your odds of getting it. If you smoke, do whatever it takes to quit. It often takes several tries to kick the habit, so keep trying. It’s worth it, and will benefit your whole body.
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