Among other oncological diseases, lung cancer leads in frequency of occurrence. The particular danger of this disease is in a long secretive course. Compared to other types of malignant neoplasms, this form metastasizes faster. The incidence of the disease depends on many factors. Statistics inexorably show that more and more cases of this terrible disease are recorded every year.
General view
Scientists were able to identify what can provoke lung cancer:
- heredity;
- living conditions;
- level of industrialization of the area;
- climate;
- manufacturing factors affecting people.
Age plays a role (higher risk for the elderly) and gender.
The causes of lung cancer to this day have not been thoroughly studied by doctors. On the basis of statistical data, it was possible to compile a list of provoking factors that, to one degree or another, affectdevelopment of the malignant process. In the first place, according to scientists - the quality of the air that a person breathes. Higher risk of lung cancer if air:
- dusty;
- dirty.
Recognized as hazardous pollutants:
- asbestos;
- bismuth;
- grain dust;
- arsenic;
- industrial resins.
Bad habits and cancer
It's no secret that lung cancer can be triggered by smoking. One cigarette, burning, releases many substances that have carcinogenic properties. Smoke leads to narrowing of blood vessels, bronchial lumens, dries out the mucous membranes of the respiratory system, reduces the body's ability to cleanse itself, protect itself from aggressive factors. Studies show that people who smoke 20 cigarettes daily for two decades are most likely to develop symptoms, signs of lung cancer.
Cigarette smoke contains tobacco tar, a poisonous, dangerous substance that can cause cancer not only in humans, but also in animals. Tests designed to confirm this were carried out on rabbits. When an animal's ear comes into contact with a dangerous compound, after some time, the animal develops cancer.
Lifestyle and disease
Higher risks to learn from experience what are the signs of lung cancer in people living in conditions of constant exposure to harmful factors for the respiratory system. In inhabitants of large cities, malignant neoplasms on averageare more common than in rural areas. Doctors explain this by asph alt fumes released in extreme heat - formaldehyde and other harmful compounds enter the air. All this affects a person whose immune system is already weakened by environmental factors: while living in rural areas, the natural defenses of the body are much higher, but city dwellers cannot boast of this.
More likely to experience symptoms of lung cancer in people who regularly suffer from lung diseases who have had a viral infection of the respiratory organs. Risk factors:
- pneumosclerosis on the background of an illness;
- chronic inflammation localized in the respiratory organs.
The risk of oncology is greater if there are lung cancer patients among close relatives.
Location and pathology
Among men, the most victims of pulmonary cancers in:
- England.
- Luxembourg.
- Netherlands.
The number of deaths among women for this reason is more in:
- Hong Kong.
- Scotland.
Least likely to get cancer:
- Brazilians;
- Syrians;
- Salvadorans.
Lung cancer in women is recorded less frequently than in men. Scientists explain this by the connection between pathology and lifestyle: representatives of the stronger half often work in harmful production conditions. In addition, the percentage of smokers is higher among men too.
Significant incidence rate in areas wherenatural factors caused an increased radiation background, as well as in areas affected by radioactive contamination.
Varieties
It is customary to distinguish two types of illness:
- central;
- peripheral.
This division is internationally accepted. Based on the following case features:
- presence of metastases;
- neoplasm size;
- pathology stage;
- involvement of the lymphatic system.
Assessing the degree of lung cancer, the doctor formulates a conclusion on the case.
Central cancer
The disease got its name because of its localization: the large bronchi are the first to suffer. A malignant neoplasm grows inside the bronchus, can spread along the walls, leading to a decrease in the lumen, eventually completely blocking it. The element of the lung, deprived of air, subsides, which leads to atelectasis. A secondary inflammatory process begins, lung tissue disintegrates - this usually occurs with stage 4 lung cancer, possibly with stage 3.
The neoplasm gradually grows through the bronchial walls, initiating inflammatory processes in the lymph nodes located nearby tissues. The tumor is a dense conglomerate. The best outcome can be expected by those who have been diagnosed with lung cancer at an early stage. The prognosis is completely determined by the stage.
Peripheral cancer
The neoplasm is formed in the small bronchus, grows outward, sometimes fills the alveoli, which leads topneumonia-like cancer. An alternative path of development is the appearance of large foci of lung cancer. Symptoms and signs in the early stages are absent, the disease does not manifest itself for years. On average, the asymptomatic stage is estimated at 3-5 years. It is almost impossible to detect pathology at this time.
Under the influence of external factors, at any moment unpredictably, the tumor can begin expansive growth, reaching impressive dimensions in short time intervals. To provoke such a process can:
- pneumonia due to viral, bacterial infection;
- physiotherapy;
- prolonged exposure to direct sunlight;
- weakened immune system;
- frequent stay in saunas, baths.
There is no specific difference in the symptoms of the disease in men and women. A feature of the peripheral form - lung cancer in the early stages is almost impossible to detect. In late disease, the manifestations are similar to the central type.
Symptomatics
The first signs are rather vague, there are no specific manifestations, so patients rarely pay attention to he alth problems. In the early stages of lung cancer manifests itself:
- tired;
- loss of appetite;
- weight loss;
- cough.
You can suspect that the cause is an oncological disease if you cough up sputum of a characteristic shade similar to the color of rust. Early stage lung cancer is suspected by:
- dyspnea;
- spitting up blood.
Gradually towards thesemanifestations are added pain syndrome, indicating that the disease has spread to neighboring tissues, organs.
The initial stages of central, peripheral cancer do not manifest themselves at all or are marked by very mild signs, since the lungs do not have nerve endings responsible for pain. The organ has increased compensatory abilities, only a quarter of the lungs already provide the body with the necessary oxygen. For this reason, the symptoms of lung cancer at an early stage are invisible, the tumor develops over the years. There are cases when the age of cancer at the time of discovery was estimated at a decade.
It is customary to talk about three phases of the disease:
- Biological (from appearance to X-ray detection).
- Asymptomatic lung cancer.
- Clinical, when the patient is faced with all the symptoms of the process.
How does it all start?
In the first two stages, there are no unpleasant sensations, he alth is in order, the disease does not bother. Only a vanishingly small percentage of patients manage to notice signs of lung cancer in the early stages and consult a doctor. Sometimes in the second, more often in the third stage, the first manifestations appear, often similar to various pulmonary diseases, which often leads to an incorrect diagnosis.
Symptoms of lung cancer that come first - fatigue, decreased vitality, fatigue when doing the most simple, familiar, household chores. A person feels that interest in what wasinteresting before, current events do not attract attention, efficiency decreases. At the same time, fatigue constantly worries. All this is manifested by characteristic turns of speech:
- "I'm tired of everything!".
- "How tired I am of everything!".
The progress of the disease is accompanied by conditions similar to bronchitis, colds, pneumonia and catarrh of the respiratory tract. Symptoms of lung cancer include a temporary increase in temperature to 37-37.5 ° C, after which the indicator returns to normal, then rises again. The use of anti-inflammatory non-steroidal, antipyretic, traditional medicine only stops the unpleasant manifestation for a while, but it constantly comes back again and again. Among people who are attentive to their he alth, it is precisely for this symptom that the oncological process is most often detected - a condition that is disturbing enough to go to the doctor to find out the reasons.
Characteristic manifestations: what to look for?
One of the symptoms of lung cancer is a cough. At first, a rare cough, dry cough is possible. With a central form, the cough is unproductive, there is no sputum. Over time, the sign intensifies, becomes permanent, the cough becomes hacking. This indicates that the malignant process has affected the large bronchi.
The disease is accompanied by:
- angina;
- short of breath;
- lack of breath.
With such symptoms of lung cancer, we can confidently say that the disease has gone far, the extensive pulmonary lobes do not participate in the act of breathing, and the vascular bed is significantlydecreased. Symptoms may be due to mass pressure on the mediastinum.
As a rule, if the first manifestations were ignored, the patient comes to the doctor when sputum is coughed up with blood inclusions when coughing. The cause of blood streaks is a violation of the integrity of the bronchial wall, mucous membranes of the respiratory organs, and blood vessels. This symptom of lung cancer indicates the neglect of the process. They are probably diagnosing the third stage or even the fourth.
Last stages of lung cancer: manifestations
When the progress has already gone far, in that half of the chest where the neoplasm has formed, the pain syndrome worries. There are cases when pain was taken for neuralgia, since the manifestations are similar. The intensity varies quite a lot from case to case, a lot depends on the damage to the pleura. The growth of the tumor leads to increased pain, since the process involves the fascia inside the chest, the nerve endings between the ribs. The patient's condition becomes especially severe when the tumor affects the ribs, initiating destructive processes. The sensations are not only strong, but they are not stopped by painkillers.
Another symptom is known, indicating a late stage of lung cancer - food moves through the esophagus with difficulty. This is due to the state of the lymphatic system: metastases accumulate in the nodes, which leads to their increase in size and pressure on the esophagus. When extrapulmonary symptoms are observed, the fourth stage is diagnosed. This diagnosis is made if metastases are found outside the lung.
There are cases when at a late stagepatients still did not suspect that the problem was in the lungs, and with disturbing manifestations of ill he alth they turned to orthopedists or cardiologists, other narrow specialists.
Diagnosis
If lung cancer is suspected, the first test the patient will be referred for is a chest x-ray. Medical statistics show that about 60% of all cases of the disease were detected on prophylactic fluorography - the results of the examination made it possible to notice malignant processes before a person felt the symptoms of the disease. It is possible to detect the disease at different stages, including the initial ones.
Statistics says:
- 5-15% of cases are detected in the first stage;
- about a third of patients are in the second stage;
- 50-75% falls on the third stage;
- every tenth is the fourth stage.
Doctors advise to undergo fluorography every two years, although you can do it twice as often: in the primary stages, lung cancer cannot be detected even on x-rays, but the disease is characterized by an expansive type of development, when in a short time, under the influence of a provoking factor, the neoplasm reaches a large size.
Diagnostic methods: X-ray
X-ray is the first, main way to detect a malignant neoplasm. Take pictures in two projections perpendicular to each other. If a suspicious focus is noticed, a course of relief of the inflammatory process is prescribed, that is, treatment against pneumonia. At the end of therapy, a control check is carried out. AtIf there is no improvement, a differential diagnosis is needed, which can show one of two options:
- tuberculosis;
- oncology.
Histological examination is necessary to determine the exact diagnosis. Quite a lot of cases of concomitant disease are known, which significantly complicates the treatment. A histological examination is usually carried out following the results of a surgical intervention, removing the neoplasm and examining it in the laboratory.
Diagnostics: high-precision tests
As follows from medical reviews, lung cancer can be accurately diagnosed by analyzing the results of the study through computed tomography. This method makes it possible to assess the dimensions of the neoplasm and identify small foci that are indistinguishable on the x-ray. The doctor can see how much more normal the patient's lymph nodes are, and also receives other specific information about the patient's condition. True, even computed tomography does not allow formulating a diagnosis with 100% accuracy. To confirm, a histological examination is necessary.
The most accurate method is a biopsy, however, the procedure is associated with the risk of expansive growth of the damaged area of atypical cells. In addition, although small, there is still a risk of introducing an atypical cell into the circulatory system, and this will lead to the formation of metastases. As a rule, before a biopsy, doctors ask the patient's consent to remove the tumor immediately if the diagnosis is confirmed. You should be prepared for such an outcome and not delay withdecision.
Another method available to modern doctors for assessing the patient's condition and clarifying the diagnosis is bronchoscopy. The term refers to an x-ray of the bronchial tree using a contrast agent. Doctors get a detailed picture of the patency of different parts of the body, and can also detect a neoplasm.
Finally, the patient is scheduled for a blood test to detect cancer markers.
What to do?
If it was possible to establish the disease at an early stage, the patient is referred for surgery. After a histological analysis of the obtained biological sample, the patient is prescribed an antitumor course, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy to prevent relapse. If the tumor was removed on time, at the time of the operation it was small, the patient completely passed the treatment recommended by the doctor, according to the results of the five-year time period from the end of the relapse, the person is considered completely cured. In the later stages, when the tumor has reached a large size, the operation is not possible. Only radiotherapy and chemotherapy are available.
From medical practice, quite a lot of cases are known when a malignant neoplasm showed a correct response to treatment, over time it became smaller in size, which means that the patient's life was lengthened.
About predictions
It should be understood that without medical intervention, lung cancer is 100% fatal. Folk remedies will not help either - oncology requires a highly qualified approach and the use of the most modernmethods.
Almost half of patients who have not had the opportunity to receive therapy die within the first year of the course of the disease. Less than one percent survive five years, and only three percent of treatment avoiders reach three years.
How to warn?
Difficulties in prevention are due to insufficiently accurate information about the causes that provoke malignant processes in the respiratory system. Based on the information currently known, one should protect oneself from negative external factors, avoid industrial areas where they work with arsenic, asbestos and other carcinogenic substances. You should completely stop smoking, avoiding even passive. Adults are recommended to undergo fluorography every year or at least once every two years to monitor the condition of the lungs. If the disease begins, this is how it will be possible to detect it at the initial stage, which means that the probability of a full recovery will be much higher.
Prophylactic examination reveals not only lung cancer, but also metastases resulting from malignant processes in other organs. It is in the lungs that metastases penetrate most often, since the organs are distinguished by an abundance of blood and lymphatic vessels.
The risk of malignant processes in the lungs is increased in all persons interacting with carcinogens, even if people have never smoked. You need to be attentive to your he alth if you have to interact with materials at work:
- arsenic;
- asbestos;
- radon;
- nickel;
- resin.
To minimize the chance of a malignant neoplasm, you will have to completely abandon any bad habits, monitor your immunity, add fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet. Apples are considered especially useful.
What are the consequences?
If lung cancer is confirmed, it is necessary to refer the patient for additional studies to assess the extent of the process. To do this, organize the following studies:
- skeletal scintigraphy;
- bone marrow check;
- ultrasound of the liver;
- CT of the brain.
Cancer prevention: domestic and foreign experience
Every seventh cancer patient in our country suffers from lung cancer. To some extent, this is due to the reluctance of the population to regularly receive doses of radiation, undergoing preventive fluorographic examinations - many hope that it is their misfortune that will bypass them, so there is no point in exposing the body to stress once again.
In European countries, regular mandatory screening of the population through computed tomography has been introduced for several years. The procedure takes only a few minutes, and the radiation doses are much lower than with a photographic examination, so CT is considered a completely safe medical method. In addition, the finished images are highly accurate, which means that you can notice cancer at an early stage or refute the suspicion of oncology.
Experts believe that if we succeed in instilling such a culture of prevention in Russia,the frequency of diagnosing lung cancer in the later stages will decrease markedly, which means that the survival rate will increase.
Features of operation
Radical surgery is available to only one or two people out of every ten cancer patients, that is, those who were diagnosed with the disease at the beginning. For removal, most often resort to the thoracoscopic method. The operation is technically complex, not available in any case, much depends on the characteristics of localization, the size of the neoplasm. The logic is as follows: small incisions are created through which atypical cells are removed. This causes minimal damage to nearby he althy tissue.
The thoracoscopic method differs from the open classical method only in the degree of trauma, but the essence and limitations are similar. Only a neoplasm can be removed in this way in the first two stages, if it is localized in the accessible part of the lung. The thoracoscopic method is not used if metastases are found, atypical cells have affected the lymph nodes.
Alternative methods: features
Chemotherapy in inoperable cases shows effectiveness in 20-30% of patients. The duration of treatment is up to one and a half years, monthly breaks are taken between courses. From the very beginning, it is possible to combine radiation and medications.
The possibility of complete remission is only in patients who have undergone a course of brain irradiation, since lung cancer very often metastasizes to this particular area. Complex therapy for localized neoplasms allows in 90% of cases to achieve a serious improvement in the condition,almost half are cured completely.
Cancer treatment: foreign practices
The use of the most modern methods, the latest equipment, the most effective medicines in some cases allows us to avoid surgery. The advantage of this approach is the preservation of the integrity of the lung, but perhaps this is only in the early stages and when undergoing therapy in a clinic that has all the necessary equipment and medicines. This is currently only available in some progressive countries.
If it was decided to have surgery, there are two options:
- lobectomy;
- pulmonectomy.
In the first case, one part of the organ affected by a malignant neoplasm is removed, in the second - a few or even a lung completely. Pulmonectomy is practiced if there is suspicion of the spread of malignant cells within the organ.
If there is no hope for a cure, surgery can be performed to reduce the size of the tumor, remove metastases from organs whose functionality is especially important for the life of the body.
Non-invasive methods
Chemotherapy is indispensable if small cell cancer is detected, growing very quickly - it is almost impossible to remove such a neoplasm. The obvious drawback of the approach is the harm caused by drugs along with atypical cells to he althy ones. Quite a few cases in medicine have been recorded when chemotherapy was the only way that was really effective at least to some extent. It is necessary to choose drugs individually,taking into account the results of histological examination. Therapy is always a course, and during the intervals the body gets the opportunity to recover. Upon completion of the course, the patient is sent for tomography to monitor the results of the process.
Radiotherapy involves the impact on atypical cells with radiation. Since radiation slows down the vital activity of cells prone to rapid division, the tumor is the first to suffer. Modern devices make it possible to direct a narrow wave beam to the neoplasm area. The procedure is associated with minimal harm to he althy areas. The most effective method is the use of a special probe, through which the radiation is directed directly to the diseased area. Certain types of cancer can only be treated in this way. Radiotherapy is indispensable for patients who, for various reasons, are contraindicated in surgical intervention. It is this method that is considered the most effective if it is necessary to reduce metastases, their destruction in the lymphatic system.
