Healthy Journey » lung cancer

Treating Lung Cancer with Surgery

editor — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:07:47 +0000

There are many ways to treat lung cancer. Combination chemotherapy, surgical procedures, and radiation are all included in treatments of lung cancer. When these procedures are practiced along with early detection of lung cancer, the lung cancer can be cured and prevented from further occurrence. Your doctor will determine which is the best lung cancer treatment to use, based on the type of lung cancer that you have.

In most cases, lung cancer treatment is done by performing surgery. If the lung cancer can be removed efficiently, there is an enormous chance that the patient will live one year at the least. Also, there is a fifty percent or greater chance of five or more years of life span. The only difficult problem is discovering lung cancer before it progresses to where surgery is not possible.

Whether or not surgery can be performed is dependent on three things: (...)

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The Three Types of Lung Cancer: NSCLC, SCLC and Bronchial Carcinoids

editor — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 08:51:49 +0000

People talk of lung cancer, but the disease so simple. Cancer is complex and often comes in many different forms. How many types of lung cancer are there?

Surprisingly, there are only two main forms of lung cancer. However, there is also a third type of lung cancer that is very rare.

The two main forms of lung cancer are NSCLC and SCLC. NSCLC stands for non small cell lung cancer, and SCLC stands for small cell lung cancer. The names describe the characteristics of the cells inside the tumor when viewed under a microscope. NSCLC and SCLC both progress and branch out in varying ways, which means distinguishing between the two is key for the appropriate treatment to be chosen by your doctor. (...)

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Screening and Preventing Lung Cancer

editor — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:53:09 +0000

Of all the cancer deaths in the United States, lung cancer remains one of the most deadly—for both men and women. Sadly, it is one of the easiest to prevent.

There are many known carcinogens and the surgeon general issues warnings on dangerous products. But, you may still wonder how does cancer start? Extended exposure to chemicals and other respiratory irritants can lead to cancerous growths. Transformations in the cells’ DNA takes place when smoking or asbestos exposure occurs and damages lung cells over time. This damage causes the cells to become cancerous.

Most cases of lung cancer are associated with the use of tobacco products. This all started in the early 1920s, when many men started smoking, who had not previously used tobacco. The result was an increase in lung cancer among those same men. For women, the 1940s not only brought more of them into the work place because of World War II, but also into the previously male-dominated world of smoking. Again, the same rising pattern of lung cancer was observed in new female smokers. (...)

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