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The increase in lung cancer largely explains the steady
rise in the number of cancer deaths in the United States. Most of the estimated 146,000
deaths caused by lung cancer each year result from cigarette smoking. The incidence in men
declined from a high of 86.6 per 100,000 in 1984 to 81.5 in 1988. Unfortunately, the rate
in women has been rising steadily, reaching a high of 39.8 per 100,000 in 1988. More women
are smoking and, as a result, more women now die of lung cancer than breast cancer, which
forty years ago was the leading cause of cancer death in women.
The symptoms of lung cancer include a persistent cough,
sputum streaked with blood, chest pain, and recurring pneumonia or bronchitis. Additional
risk factors include exposure to industrial chemicals (including arsenic, certain organic
chemicals, and asbestos); radiation exposure, including possible residential radon
exposure (especially for smokers); and for non-smokers, passive exposure to sidestream
cigarette smoke.
Unfortunately, early detection of lung cancer is very
difficult. Symptoms often don't appear until the disease is in an advanced stage. If
smokers quit when early precancerous cellular changes have already damaged bronchial
lining tissue, there is a chance that the disease will not progress. Those who continue to
smoke often end up with lung cancer.
The treatment of lung cancer depends on the type and stage
of the disease and includes surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. If the cancer is
localized, surgery is the best option. However, because only 18 percent of lung cancers
are discovered early enough for surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are often necessary.
In small-cell carcinoma, a large percentage of patients
achieve remission with chemotherapy--alone or in combination with radiation--instead of
surgery. Small-cell carcinomas have responded to the following combinations:
cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine; cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin,
vincristine, and etoposide; and etoposide and cisplatin.
Experimental immunotherapy for lung cancer uses BCG
vaccine, or Corynebacterium parvum. In experimental laser therapy, laser energy is
beamed through a bronchoscope to destroy local tumors, which are often the cause of
bronchial obstruction and resulting infection.
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Cancer- Lung Cancer
