Lung Cancer Treatment in India

Lung Cancer Treatment in India:

Cancer is a ruthless disease in which cells in the body grow out of control. Lung cancer is the cancer that starts in the lungs.
Lung cancer starts in the lungs and later may spread to lymph nodes or other organs in the body, such as the brain. Cancer from other organs in the body may also spread to the lungs. When cancerous cells spread from one organ to another, they are said to be metastases.

What are Lung cancer symptoms?

In lung cancer, Different people have different symptoms. Some people will have symptoms related to the lungs such as bleeding while coughing. Some people whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body other than the lung (metastasized) have symptoms specific to that particular part of the body.

Symptoms of lung cancer may include:

Constant Coughing that gets worse or doesn’t go away.
Pain in the chest
Shortness or difficulty in breathing.
Wheezing.
Blood coughing
Feeling exhausted all the time.
Sudden Weight loss with no known cause.

What are the causes and risk factors for lung cancer?

Cigarette Smoking:

The number one risk factor for lung cancer is cigarette smoking. In the United States, based on a research, cigarette smoking is linked to about 80% – 90% of lung cancer deaths. Also, with the use of other tobacco products such as pipes or cigars also increases the risk for lung cancer. Tobacco smoke is a toxic mix of more than 7,000 chemicals which is life-threatening. Many of which are poisonous chemicals. People who smoke cigarettes are 15 to 30 times more likely to get lung cancer or die of lung cancer compared to the people who don’t smoke. If you think smoking occasionally is fine, then you may want to reconsider as it also increases the risk of lung cancer. Even smoking a few cigarettes a day increases the risk of lung cancer. More the cigarettes a day, the more the risk of getting lung cancer.

Passive smoking:

Passive smoking or the inhalation of tobacco smoke by non-smokers who share living or working quarters with smokers, also is an established risk factor for the development of lung cancer. Research has shown that nonsmokers who reside with a smoker have a 24% increase in risk for developing lung cancer when compared with nonsmokers who do not reside with a smoker.

Causes of Lung Cancer:

At least 90% of lung cancer cases are the result of smoking well; it’s just not the reason anyone can get lung cancer.

The moment you inhale smoke into your lungs, it starts to damage your lung tissue. The lungs can repair the damage, but continued exposure to smoke can make it increasingly difficult for the lungs to keep up the repair.

Once cells are damaged because of smoking, they begin to behave abnormally, thus increasing the likelihood of developing lung cancer. Small-cell lung cancer is almost always associated with heavy smoking. So, if you stop smoking, your chances of lung cancer decreases over time.

Inhaling other hazardous substances, especially over a long period of time, may cause lung cancer. A type of lung cancer known as mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos.

Substances that may cause lung cancer are:

Arsenic
Cadmium
Chromium
Nickel
Some petroleum products
Uranium

If you smoke or you’re exposed to other carcinogens than you are more likely to develop lung cancer. Inherited genetic mutations may make you more likely to develop lung cancer.

Types of lung cancer

There are two major types of Lung Cancer based on the appearance of lung cancer cells under the microscope. The two general types of lung cancer include:

Small cell lung cancer: Small cell lung cancer occurs almost exclusively in heavy smokers and is less common than non-small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer: Non-small cell lung cancer is an umbrella term for several types of lung cancers that behave in a similar way. Non-small cell lung cancers include squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma.

The following are the stages of Lung Cancer:

Cancer stages help to get the right treatment and tell how far the cancer has spread.

The chance of curative treatment or success is much higher when lung cancer is diagnosed and treated in the early stages, before it spreads to the other organs. Because lung cancer doesn’t cause obvious symptoms in the earlier stages, diagnosis often comes after it has spread to other parts which makes it less likely to get cured.

Non-small cell lung cancer consists of four main stages:

Stage 1: Cancer is found in the lung, but it has not spread outside the lung.
Stage 2: Cancer is found in the lung and nearby lymph nodes.
Stage 3: Cancer is in the lung, lymph nodes in the middle of the chest.
Stage 3A: Cancer is found in lymph nodes, but only on the same side of the chest where cancer first started growing.
Stage 3B: Cancer has spread to lymph nodes on the above the collarbone or to lymph on the opposite side of the chest.
Stage 4: Cancer has spread to both lungs, area around the lungs, or to distant organs.

There are two main stages of Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). In the limited stage, cancer is found either in only one side of the lung or near lymph nodes on the same side of the chest.

The extensive stage means cancer has spread to the following parts:

throughout one lung
to the opposite lung
to lymph nodes on the opposite side
to fluid around the lung
to bone marrow
to distant organs

How is Lung cancer diagnosed?

Doctors use a wide range of diagnostic procedures and tests to diagnose lung cancer. These include the following:

Imaging tests: : This is the test, where an abnormal mass can be seen on X-ray, CT, MRI, PET and CT PET scans. These scans produce more details and find smaller lesions.

Sputum cytology: If you produce phlegm when you cough, it is taken for microscopic examination that can determine if cancer cells are present in the lungs.

A biopsy test can determine if tumor cells are cancerous. A tissue sample can be obtained by:

Bronchoscopy: While you’re under sedation, a lighted tube is passed down your throat and into your lungs, allowing closer examination of the cells.
Mediastinoscopy: In this test, the doctor makes an incision at the base of the neck. A lighted instrument is inserted and surgical tools are used to take samples from lymph nodes. It’s usually performed in a hospital under general anesthesia.
Needle: Using imaging tests as a guide, a needle is inserted through the chest wall and into the suspicious lung tissue. Needle biopsy can also be used to test lymph nodes.

Treatment:

If lung cancer is diagnosed, other tests are done to find out how far it has spread through the lungs, lymph nodes, and the rest of the body. This process is called staging. The type and stage of lung cancer tells doctors what kind of treatment you need. Lung cancer is treated in several ways, depending on the type of lung cancer and how far it has spread. People with non-small cell lung cancer can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or a combination of these treatments. People with small cell lung cancer are usually treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.