Lung cancer is the foremost reason of deaths in India. Doctors tell you how it is important not to miss the early symptoms in order to fight the disease
Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cell in one or both lungs causing formation of tumours. Staging lung cancer is based on the fact whether the cancer is local or has spread from the lungs to the lymph nodes or other organs.
There are two types of lung cancer: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common making for 80 to 85 per cent of all cases and includes:
Stages of NSCLC:
Stage I: Disease confined only within the lungs
Stage II: The cancer is in the lungs and has also spread to the nearby lymph nodes
Stage III: Also known as locally advanced disease. In this stage, cancer is in the lungs and has also involved lymph nodes in the middle of the chest. The stage has two subtypes:
Stage IIIA: when the cancer has only spread to lymph nodes on the same side of chest where the cancer first started
Stage IIIB: When the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes on the opposite side of the chest or has spread above the collar bone
Stage IV: Also known as advanced disease. In this stage, the cancer has spread to both lungs, to fluid in the area around the lungs, or to another other part of the body, such as the liver or other organs.
Small Cell Lung Cancer grows faster than NSCLC tumours and is more treatablewith chemotherapy than NSCLC
Stages of SCLC:
Limited stage: In this stage, cancer is detected on one side of the chest, concerning just one part of the lung and nearby lymph nodes.
Extensive stage: In this stage, cancer has spread to other regions of the chest or other parts of the body.
The writer is Dr Prabal Deb, Director Operations & Chief — Histopathology, SRL Diagnostics
Signs to look out for
Lung cancer might not have any noticeable indications in the early stages, and in most of the cases patients are not diagnosed nor do they show any symptoms, until the disease has progressed. In its early stages, lung cancer doesn’t typically have symptoms you can see or feel. Later, it often causes coughing, wheezing, and chest pain. In case any or a combination of the of the following symptoms exist, it’s advisable to connect with the doctor:
Alteration in cough: If the coughing persists more than two weeks, takes the form of chronic cough combined with blood.
Soreness in the chest area: Lung cancer may create torment in the chest. A throbbing sensation may not be related with hacking. One ought to counsel the specialist if see any kind of chest torment, regardless of whether it’s sharp, dull, consistent, or irregular.
The writer is Dr Praveen Garg, Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals
Immunotherapy shows the way
Lung cancer is the foremost cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in India. People are more probable to die from lung cancer than breast cancer, and men are much more likely to die from lung cancer than prostate cancer.
Here is a summary of a quick lifestyle tips which will help you keep a check on Lung cancer:
Avoid tobacco: Avoid tobacco in all its practices, including exposure to second-handsmoke. Cigarette smoking is the number one risk cause for lung cancer. Consuming other tobacco products such as cigars or pipes also upsurges the risk for lung cancer.
Limited ingestion of alcohol and processed meat: Limiting the intake of certain types of alcoholic beverages. For men, the heavy drinking of beer and hard liquor is associated with an eminent risk of developing lung cancer. Cut down on red and processed meat consumption.
Relish a cup of green tea: Green tea has been shown to avoid some of the damage to cells triggered by smoking, and some studies recommend people who consume more green tea seem to have a lower risk of lung cancer.
Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active: Maintaining a healthy weight might lower the risk of various types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney.
The writer is Dr Shuaib Zaidi, Senior Consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi