Lung Cancer: A Leading Cause of Death Today Essay

Some symptoms of lung cancer are chronic cough, chest pain, hoarseness, wheezing, swelling in the face and neck, weight loss, fever, loss of appetite, and shortness of breath.

Lung Cancer, like any other type of cancer, is the uncontrollable growth of cells in the lung tissue. The main causes that contribute to lung cancer include inhaling carcinogens (basically, smoking), exposure to ionizing radiation, viral infections and even air pollution. These factors basically damage the tissues lining the bronchi in the lung, leading the cancer to develop further (Vaporciyan & Nesbitt JC, 2000). Primary lung cancers that develop in the epithelial tissues of the lung are known as carcinomas and claim the top spot in terms of leading cancer-related death causes. As of 2004, lung cancer

Lung cancer is a cancer (malignancy) that originates in the tissues of the lungs or the cells lining the airways. Lung cancer originates when normal lung cells become cancer cells, usually after a series of mutations, and begin to divide out of control.

Brief Description: Lung cancer, as with all cancers, is an uncontrollable increase of cells. It happens within the lung tissue, but it could also go on to affect other nearby tissue and spread to further out than just the lungs.

Lung cancer has multiple ways of impacting a body. This depends on the stage of lung cancer and when it becomes diagnosed. At early stages, lung cancer patients are often unaware that they have the disease. As the disease becomes more advanced, variable symptoms can develop. They often present with respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, or blood with coughing. Common places

Lung cancer is a tumor that affects either one or both of the lungs.A primary cancer begins in the lungs and a secondary cancer begins in another place in the body and makes its way up towards the lungs. Lung cancer is the 5th most common cancer. In Australia 59% of males were diagnosed were as 41% of Australian females were diagnosed.

Lung cancer occurs due to cells in a person’s lungs that multiple at a rapid pace, which form a malignant tumor. These tumors in the lungs take away important necessities such as oxygen, and nutrients; diminishes the ability of the tissue to properly function. One of the most type of common lung cancers is Adenocarcinoma, which make up to forty percent of these cases. Smoking is the primary reason for Americans to be diagnosed with lung cancer, with a cigarette containing more than 4,000 chemicals that have permanent damage to the lungs causing long term effects (Conrad 2016).

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death not only in the United States of America but globally.1 According to the World Health Organization 8.2 million deaths in 2012 were cancer related and of those deaths, 1.59 million were due specifically to lung cancer.2 In 2014, there was a staggering 224,210 new reported cases of lung cancer in the United States alone. The 5-year relative survival has a 49% to 2% variability depending on the type of lung cancer, stage, and location. The two major types of lung cancer are Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCL), which consists of 85% lung cancers, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which makes up the other 15% of lung cancers. NSCL is an epithelial lung cancer that is histologically comprised of adenocarcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.1 Both NSCL and SCLC are insidious in nature and the presentation will usually be vague or nonspecific and include the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, weight loss, recurrent infections, coughing up blood, hoarseness, and wheezing.

Over decades, lung cancer globally continues to be the leading killer in both genders. In the United States, smoking is responsible for 90% lung cancer deaths in men and about 80% in women. About 15 decades ago, lung cancer was not considered as the leading killer because it was an extremely rare disease about 1% in total of cancer cases. However, by the year 1927, the percentage increased into 14%. During World War I, many soldiers and civilians started smoking to release stress. Eventually, that made the lung cancer rate and smoking addiction in the population started to increase. In a research that published in 2001, lung cancer annually kills over one million people worldwide (Witschi, 2001). The death rate, which caused by lung cancer,

No matter what the cause, lung cancer is a very serious thing. Research shows that it takes several mutations for a lung cancer cell to form. However when the lung cancer cell does form, it begins dividing out of control, causing the divisions to have the same error in DNA. As the mutations continue, the lung tissue starts to no longer be able to carry out its function properly. In some cases, the cancer cells will then spread to other parts of the body, therefore spreading the cancer.

Lung cancer is an uncontrolled growth of cells in the lungs, it can occur in only one lung or both. When cells in the lungs divide uncontrollably it eventually forms a tumor in the lungs. Tumors are a mass of the build-up

The American Joint Committee on Cancer developed the TNM staging system. The T classification measures the scope of the primary tumor; the N classification measures how much the lymph nodes are affected; and the M classification evaluates metastasis. The T category characterizes the primary tumor as: TX-undefinable, T0-no evidence, Tis- carcinoma in situ, and T1-T4- the measurable scope of the tumor with T4 being the largest. The N category is defined as: NX- not evaluated, N0-no involvement, and N1-N3-regional lymph node involvement measuring the extent with N3 being the worst. The M category is listed as: M0- no metastasis and M1- metastasis. The T, N, and M classifications are then added together to get the more commonly known 0-IV staging. (AJCC,

Lung Cancer is one of the most deadly types of cancer. ?Lung cancer kills more Americans than the next five cancers combined? (Jameson). Lung cancer can be caused by smoking, second hand smoke, pollution, and chemicals. ?Some symptoms of lung cancer may be someone who has a cough that doesn?t go away or gets worse, chest pain that is often worse with deep breathing or coughing or laughing, hoarseness, weight loss and loss of appetite, coughing up blood or rust- colored spit, shortness of breath, felling tired or weak, infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia that don?t go away or keep coming back, new onset of wheezing, and often showing no symptoms until it?s too late? (Ungar). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a risk factor for developing lung cancer, and have a poor chance of treatment after having lung cancer. People don?t know cancer can kill them. There four stages of lung cancer one through four. . The four stages of lung cancer are in stage one the cancer is only in the lungs and nowhere else yet. In stage two the cancer is in the lungs and is moving nearby the lymph nodes. The third stage of lung cancer has spread to the middle of the chest. In the last and final stage of cancer is the worse of them all it has went into both lungs and fluid around the lung or to other parts of the body such as organs or liver

Lung cancer has impacted many people’s lives in the world today. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death caused by cancer in the United States (Lewis, 2014, pg. 535). The diagnosis of lung cancer is proceeded by a low cure rate and a high mortality rate. Diagnosis of lung cancer increases the person’s level of physical distress, psychological distress and social isolation (Johnston, 2013). Due to the low cure rate, palliative care becomes essential after the diagnosis of incurable/inoperable lung cancer. In palliative care, the nurses and team of physicians must work together. Palliative care allows the suffering person to have a reduction in hospital stays, more time spent at home with family, and greater patient satisfaction; it also allows the patient to have a voice in the dying process (Dale, 2011). Early access to palliative care increases the persons understanding of his/her illness, and facilitates coping and symptom management (Johnston, 2013). In palliative care, it is important for the nurse to initiate and a patient-centered relationship (Dale, 2011.). The role of the nurse is very important in palliative care.

Lung cancer is “the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in one or both lungs”. These abnormal cells do not carry out the functions of normal lung cells and do not develop into healthy lung tissue. As they grow, “the abnormal cells can form tumors and interfere with the functioning of the lung, which provides oxygen to the body via the blood”. There are two major types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Staging lung cancer is based on whether the cancer is local or has spread from the lungs to the lymph nodes or other organs. Because the lungs are large, tumors can grow in them for a long