Every day a person follows his dream, sets goals and achieves them. As long as he is he althy and full of strength, he can handle any mountain. But everything can change dramatically if a person falls ill and the disease is fatal. Prevention, treatment, diagnosis and clinic of lung cancer further. In the meantime, it is worth learning more about this body.
What are lungs?
Lungs are a paired organ of air respiration in humans, mammals, birds, and reptiles. Lung cancer is a malignant tumor that develops in the epithelial tissue or in the bronchi. This neoplasm differs from other oncological diseases in that there are no symptoms in the early stages. The second significant difference between this tumor and others is that there is a direct link between the development of lung cancer and smoking. Smoking is the cause in 95% of patients. Lung cancer is much more common in men who are careless about their he alth. According to statisticsrepresentatives of the strong half of humanity smoke more often than women. Tobacco smoke contains a large amount of carcinogens that provoke the appearance of cancerous tumors.
With constant irritation of the lungs with tobacco smoke, cells degenerate. If initially there is only one cancer cell, then in the future, year after year, the tumor grows and already at the first stage it can number millions of cells. This process can take decades, therefore, if a disease is detected, then measures must be taken immediately, because the process accelerates further. But not only smokers are at risk, so-called passive smokers, that is, people who do not smoke directly, but inhale tobacco smoke, are also at serious risk. Smokers are 23 times more likely to get sick than he althy people.
Most cases of lung cancer develop without symptoms. But when the first signs appear, this indicates a sufficiently developed tumor. First of all, there is a cough, shortness of breath, rarely hemoptysis. There is weight loss, fever, weakness, swelling of the neck, face, there may be pain in the joints. This indicates advanced stages of lung cancer. Cough can be both dry and with expectoration of some amount of sputum. Early stages (first or second) are most often detected during preventive examinations or by chance. X-ray of the lungs is the most common diagnostic method. Butthis study is not very informative because small tumors at an early stage may not be visible. A more effective option is computed tomography.
Stages of a malignant tumor
In the development of a lung cancer clinic, several stages can be traced:
- On the first patient does not show any complaints. It is possible to detect a tumor at this stage of development only during special examinations, not ordinary preventive examinations, but X-ray irradiation or endoscopic examination.
- The second stage of development and clinic of lung cancer is characterized by radiological manifestations, that is, at this phase the disease can be detected by preventive fluorography or x-ray examination.
- The third phase is characterized by the rapid manifestation of clinical symptoms. At this stage, the diagnosis, as a rule, does not cause any difficulties not only for oncologists, but also for general practitioners, and, unfortunately, it is very problematic to treat a malignant lung tumor at this stage of development. Therefore, to detect the disease in the early stages, it is imperative to undergo preventive examinations. This will allow timely, correct and adequate treatment.
Symptoms
It is important to know the clinical guidelines for lung cancer. Preventive examinations should be carried out by all people annually, without exception, especially those over 45 years of age. Regular examinationsinclude mandatory fluorography, and if any changes in the lungs are suspected, a detailed x-ray examination and consultation with an oncologist are prescribed. We should not forget that lung cancer is manifested by specific symptoms and if a person has a suspicion of oncology, he should definitely contact his local therapist.
Symptoms of the manifestation of the disease:
- Shortness of breath that gets worse. This is due to the fact that the tumor occupies most of the lung and reduces the volume of the respiratory surface. With the growth of a neoplasm in the bronchi, part of the organ, and sometimes the entire lung, is turned off from breathing.
- Another symptom is pain that is localized in the chest. It can disturb on the left, on the right, in the interscapular region, behind the sternum.
When pain occurs, a mandatory consultation with a doctor is necessary to determine the cause of the symptom.
Every year more than one million cases of this disease are registered in the world, which occupies a leading position in the total amount of malignant neoplasms. The main causes of lung cancer are: carcinogens, chronic diseases of the respiratory system, environmental conditions, occupational ailments. Carcinogens are chemicals that, when accumulated, can cause cancer. The main carcinogen is tobacco smoke, which contains benzopyrenes and nitrosemines, which accumulate in the body, increase the risk of developingdiseases.
In this regard, it is important how many people smoke cigarettes per day and the duration of smoking itself. Quitting the habit completely can reduce your risk of developing lung cancer over time. The environmental situation affects the growth of morbidity, because large dust particles cannot leave the body on their own. The genetic predisposition is also important for this disease - the presence of relatives with a confirmed diagnosis immediately indicates that a person is at risk and he needs to constantly undergo preventive examinations. The clinical symptoms of this disease depend on the location of the tumor, as well as on the stage of oncology. By localization, lung cancer is central and peripheral.
Central
Central lung cancer clinic next. It develops in large bronchi and manifests itself quite early. The patient may feel unwell, he develops an unproductive cough, weight loss. With the progression of the disease, the symptoms become brighter: cough intensifies, then sputum appears, which can be either colorless or streaked with blood, hoarseness in the voice, chest pain.
Peripheral
According to the clinic of peripheral lung cancer, in the initial stages it can be completely asymptomatic, so it is easy to confuse it with other lung diseases. For the timely detection of oncology, it is necessary to regularly undergo a screening study.
Diagnosis
Methods for detecting lung cancer can be divided into two groups: laboratory and instrumental. Timely diagnosis is very important, because in the early stages, oncology can be confused with other lung diseases.
Instrumental Methods
If you suspect a disease and clinic of lung cancer in men and women, the first thing to do is an x-ray, which in 80% of cases allows you to visualize the localization of the tumor process.
Computed tomography is used to clarify the size of the neoplasm. In developed countries, this diagnostic method has long replaced even X-ray examination and can be used as a screening method.
If lung cancer is suspected, bronchoscopy is also prescribed. It allows you to visualize the tumor process, as well as to take tissue for morphological examination.
If bronchoscopy is not possible, a puncture is prescribed - a puncture of the chest under the control of computed tomography to collect material for morphological examination, that is, for a biopsy.
PET CT (positron emission computed tomography) is a specific method for examining the internal organs of a person. During the diagnosis, the patient is intravenously injected with radioactive drugs based on glucose. The latter accumulates in tumor cells, which makes it possible to visualize neoplasms even up to 1 centimeter.
Laboratory methods
If we talk about laboratory methods, then the gold standard for diagnosing any tumor process is a biopsy. After receiving materials for research, it is studied using genetic tests and immunohistochemistry. This method allows you to individually select therapy according to the genetic structure of the tumor. One of the most modern methods of laboratory diagnostics of oncological processes is the CTC method.
To conduct this study, only ten milliliters of human blood is needed. The principle of STS is that tumor cells are constantly in the bloodstream and can be detected using special antibodies. STS can identify one tumor cell in billions of he althy blood cells. Also, this method allows for a more effective approach to individual cancer treatment programs.
Types of cancer
Mortality from malignant neoplasms in the lungs exceeds 85-90%. According to the histological classification, the following types of lung cancer are distinguished:
- small cell - about 20% of cases;
- large cell - about 80%.
Should I remove part of an organ?
It is worth knowing the clinical guidelines for lung cancer, which will tell you whether to remove part of the organ.
The lung is a very large organ, the tumor develops slowly and until it occludes the bronchus and enters the pleura, the patients do not feel anything. There is a conventional method of operating the lungs by intercostal opening of the chest and a modern one using a video camera. The latter also requires opening the chest, especially when removing the pulmonary lobe, which in an adult even without airreaches the size of a grapefruit.
Partial or complete removal of an organ is an extensive and risky operation that can incur serious complications, so it is carried out with full monitoring of the patient. Upon completion of the surgical intervention and awakening from anesthesia, the patient is transferred to the intensive care unit for one day to resume spontaneous breathing. Then he is placed in surgery for about a week. The first days after the operation, the person is connected to drainage tubes and a catheter. After discharge, patients are encouraged to take regular walks in the fresh air.
Stages
In the clinical picture of lung cancer, it is determined at 4 stages:
- 1 - small or small tumor;
- 2 and 3 - neoplasm has spread to nearby areas;
- 4 - The tumor has metastasized to other parts of the body.
If the oncology spreads to other parts of the body, the cancer is called secondary or metastatic.
Clinical groups
All cancer patients are divided into 4 clinical groups of lung cancer:
- 1 group. This includes patients whose clinical picture is unclear, who have only a suspicion of cancer. Within 10 days, these patients undergo a detailed examination.
- 2 group are patients with malignant tumors who can be completely cured after applying modern therapies.
- 3 group are patients who have undergone radical treatment and have no signs of recurrence.
- 4 group - these are patients with tumors, when radical treatment is impossible, they need palliative care - an approach that improves the quality of life of a patient with dangerous diseases that threaten death.
