Summary

Section Summary : Lung Cancer

Introduction

• Lung cancer currently ranks as the leading cause of cancer related death in men and women.
• Most lung cancers begin in epithelial cells lining the bronchi.

Types of Lung Cancer

• Lung cancer is divided into 2 main types, small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
• SCLC tends to be an aggressive cancer and is highly associated with tobacco smoking.
• The majority of lung cancer cases are NSCLC which itself is subdivided into three categories: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and lung cell carcinoma.

Risk Factors

• Smoking and second-hand smoke are, by far, the leading risk factors for lung cancer.
• Lung cancer risk is higher if an immediate family member has been diagnosed with lung cancer.
• Chemicals such as radon and asbestos increase lung cancer risk.
• Chronic lung diseases have also been implicated as a lung cancer risk.

Symptoms

• Advanced stage lung cancer symptoms: persistent cough, sputum streaked with blood , chest pain ,voice change, recurrent pneumonia or bronchitis.

Detection and Diagnosis

• Common detection methods are chest x-ray, chest CT scan, bronchoscopy, and sputum cytology.

Pathology Report and Staging

• A tissue biopsy of the lung is examined by a pathologist in order to create a pathology report.
• NSCLC uses the T/N/M staging system which assigns a degree of severity based on size, lymph node involvement, and spread of the cancer.
• SCLC is diagnosed as either limited or extensive depending on the spread of the cancer.

Lung Cancer Tumor Biology

• Many genetic changes occur in cancer. Details can be found in the Mutation section..
• Alterations in Ras, Myc, Rb, TP53, and EGFR have been implicated in the development of lung cancer.

Treatment

• Lung cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.