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Lung Cancer: Symptoms And Treatment Options
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More people die of lung cancer every year than prostate cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer combined. Lung cancer accounts for 25% of all cancer-related deaths in the US. It seems to attack both men and women – 228,820 lung cancer cases reported in 2020, with 112,520 of those cases are women, and 116,300 are men. However, it is more common among older people, with the majority of cases involving those who are above 65 years old.
More people die of lung cancer every year than prostate cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer combined. Lung cancer accounts for 25% of all cancer-related deaths in the US. It seems to attack both men and women – 228,820 lung cancer cases reported in 2020, with 112,520 of those cases are women, and 116,300 are men. However, it is more common among older people, with the majority of cases involving those who are above 65 years old.
Early Stage Lung Cancer Symptoms
The best way to be able to beat lung cancer is to catch it early on. Having any of the following symptoms, especially a combination of them, warrants a prompt exam by your doctor:
– A new and chronic cough
– Coughing up any signs of blood
– Episodes of shortness of breath, with no prior history of this symptom
– Chronic episodes of bronchitis or pneumonia
– Onset episodes of pain around or in your lungs
– Weight loss without dieting or extra exercise
Late Stage Lung Cancer Symptoms
– Headaches, dizziness and weak or numb limbs
– Noticeable swelling of the face, neck or arms
– Pains in your bones that are new
– Lumps that are new around your neck or shoulders
Chemotherapy Treatments (Chemo)
There are three main types of this treatment for lung cancer:
1) Neoadjuvant chemo: Used before any kind of surgery – tests effectiveness of particular kinds of drugs.
2) Adjuvant chemo: Applied after surgery or radiation treatments – to kill remaining cancer cells and to stop the spread of the cancer.
3) Systemic chemo: For advanced stage or spreading cancer – drugs put into bloodstream to treat the whole body.
Other Non-Surgical Treatments
All of the following may be used alone or in combination with other treatments:
– External beam radiation therapy: Mechanical application of high doses of radiation to lung cancer cells from outside the body.
– Internal radiation therapy: High doses of radiation via implants placed inside the body very near to the tumor(s).
– Immunotherapy: Use of drugs to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight off the cancer cells.
– Laser therapy: Use of medical lasers to destroy the tumor(s).
Surgical Treatments
– Lobectomy: In this procedure, an entire affected lobe of the lung is removed.
– Segmentectomy: Removes cancerous tissue from an individual lung segment.
– Wedge resection: Used to remove cancerous tissue from the lung, typically in treating metastasis.
– Pneumonectomy: Surgical removal of an entire one of the two lungs.
