Topic > Lung Cancer - 1669

There are two different types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. It all depends on the size of how the cells appear under the microscope. Both of these types of lung cancer can grow differently, which leads them to be treated differently. Non-small cell lung cancer is the more common of the two and usually grows quite slowly. There are three main types of non-small cell lung cancer and they are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma. Small cell cancer is the least common and grows quite quickly and can easily spread to other organs in the body (Cavendish, p.946). Usually cells grow and divide at a specific rate that keeps the body healthy, but sometimes cells begin to divide at an uncontrollable rate. When cells grow too much they form a tumor. The cells in this tumor are cancer cells, and when cancer cells are found in the lungs, they eat away at the lungs, which leads to someone's death. Some people who may get cancer are people who smoke cigarettes, cigars and pipes and people who are exposed to radon, asbestos and pollution. In most people who have cancer, cancer cells are not found until they are in the later stages. Only 15% of people who get cancer are diagnosed in the early stages. When someone is diagnosed with cancer, they have a maximum of five years to live. It matters whether the cancer cells have reached the local lymph nodes or elsewhere. Most people discover they have cancer by chance. They will go for an x-ray or CT scan for something else and find out they have cancer (http://my.webmd.com). There are many different symptoms for lung cancer. Most of them do something with breathing or something to do with the mouth. Some of the symptoms are; cough that doesn't go away, chest pain that is sometimes made worse by deep breathing, hoarse voice, weight loss or loss of appetite, bloody spit up, shortness of breath, fever for no known reason, recurring infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and wheezing (http ://my.webmd.com). There are many ways to diagnose lung cancer. A CT (computed tomography) scan will indicate the exact size, shape and location of the tumor. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will help understand where the cancer has spread. A PET (positron emission tomography) scan traces a......paper center......dy from the outside and focuses on the cancer. The other type is brachytherapy, in which a small pellet of radioactive material is placed directly into the cancer or the airways near it. I think lung cancer is very serious. I thought this report would be very helpful for me because many people will know someone with lung cancer and if someone close to me gets lung cancer then I will know what will happen to them. I may even get lung cancer someday, and if I do, then I will know what my life chances are and what to do to help myself. I learned a lot while writing this report and I think lung cancer and all other cancers are a big problem and everyone should learn everything they can about them. Bibliography Encyclopedia of Family Health, volume 8, Marshall Cavendish, 1998, pp. 974 – 978Johnston, Lorraine, Lung Cancer: Making Sense of Diagnosis, Treatment and Options, O'Reilly & Associates, 2001National Cancer Institute, What You Need to Know About Lung Cancer, 2000, http://my. webmd.com, May 16, 2001.The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 3, Scott Fetzer, 1998, pp. 167 – 174Types of treatment, 16,2001