Approximately 222,250 new cases of lung cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society. MayoClinic.com explains that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The two main types of lung cancer are small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. People who smoke or have smoked in the past have the greatest risk of developing lung cancer, with the risk increasing depending on how long and how often an individual smoked.
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Approximately 15 percent of all lung cancer cases are small lung cancer, and most are caused due to cigarette smoking, according to the National Institutes of Health. This type of cancer usually starts in the breathing tubes in the center of the chest. These cancer cells are small, but they grow rapidly and create large tumors that spread quickly to other parts of the body such as the brain, bones and liver. Symptoms include bloody sputum, chest pain, cough, loss of appetite, weight loss and wheezing. Testing often includes a chest X-ray, laboratory blood tests, liver function studies, a sputum test, a biopsy and a thoracentesis which involves removal of fluid from the chest cavity surrounding the lungs. This type of cancer spreads quickly throughout the body, and treatment often combines radiation of the lungs as well as cancer-killing drugs known as chemotherapy. The most common chemotherapy drugs in the United States are etoposide with carboplatin or cisplatin.
Adenocarcinoma
Adenocarcinomas are classified as non-small cell lung cancers and account for approximately 40 percent of lung cancers, according to the American Cancer Society. Physicians commonly see adenocarcinoma in the outer part of the lung. Possible symptoms of adenocarcinoma include a cough that won’t go away, shortness of breath, wheezing, streaks of blood in sputum, loss of appetite, weight loss for no known reason and feeling very tired. Small cell lung cancer is commonly diagnosed with a physical exam, laboratory tests, chest X-rays, a bronchoscopy and a biopsy. For most patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the treatments as of 2010 would not cure the cancer, though according to the National Cancer Institute, experimental clinical drug trials are ongoing.
Large Cell Carcinoma
Large cell carcinomas are categorized as non-small cell lung cancer and tend to grow and spread faster than the other types of non-small cell lung cancers, according to the National Institutes of Health. Like in other forms of lung cancer, smoking is the number one risk factor for this form, though working around cancer-causing chemicals such as asbestos, chloride, formaldehyde, and certain paints and alloys may increase the risk for non-small cell lung cancer as well. Early symptoms of large cell carcinomas include cough, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain, loss of appetite, losing weight without trying and fatigue. Treatment for large cell carcinoma is dependent upon the stage at which the patient was diagnosed, but can include surgery to remove part or all of the lung, chemotherapy and radiation. Large cell carcinoma is a form of non-small cell lung cancer; as of 2010, there are no treatments to cure this type of lung cancer.
References
- National Institutes of Health: Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell
- MayoClinic.com: Lung Cancer
- American Cancer Society: What Are the Risk Factors for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer?
- American Cancer Society: What Are the Key Statistics About Lung Cancer?
- National Cancer Institute: Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment
