- Causes:
- Primary cause of lung cancer is cigarette smoke
. 96% of sufferers is smokers and the rest are passive smokers
- Occupations
. uranium mining, working with asbestos
- Small undetected cancer elsewhere in the body with a secondary tumour in the lung
. some people who apparently have had a primary cancer of the lung may actually
have had a primary cancer elsewhere in the body with a secondary in the lung
- Symptoms:
- Shortness of breath
- Reduction in the amount of exercise usually can do
. eg. being able to climb only one flight of steps without stopping where
previously usually could mange two
- Persistent pain in the chest
. remain in one place
. continuous or nearly continuous four many days or weeks
- Persistent cough
. with green sputum, that will not go away and lasts a long time when usually
haven’t got bronchitis
- Coughing out blood
- Sudden and severe shortness of breath
- Pneumonia
. tumour blocks a major airway, cause:
(a) fever
(b) cough and yellow sputum
(c) pain
- Loss of weight
- Loss of appetite
- Feeling of lethargy and tiredness
3. Treatment
- Surgery
. if tumour located in the outside part of the lung and has not spread, it may be
possible to remove it surgically.
- Radiotherary
. useful if cancer is cancer is encroaching on a major airway or is causing
moderate of severe pain
- Laser Therapy
. can used to control bleeding from the surface of the cancer
. does not need an incision, so recovery is quick
. seals the wound it makes
- Chemotherary
. cause partial remission (cancer shrinks for a time )
. has many side effects
