Lung Cancer

The lungs can be present in the chest. They help you breathe. When you breathe, air goes through your nose, down your windpipe (trachea), & in to the lungs, where it spreads through tubes called bronchi. Most lung cancer begins in the cells that line these tubes.

Lung cancer is cancer that starts in the lungs.

  Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer.

There's main types of lung cancer:

If the lung cancer is made up of both types, it is called mixed small cell/large cell cancer.

  Small cell lung cancer makes up about 20% of all lung cancer cases.

Lung cancer is the deadliest type of cancer for both men & ladies. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than breast, colon, & prostate cancers combined.

If the cancer started somewhere else in the body & spread to the lungs, it is called metastatic cancer to the lung.
Causes, incidence, & risk factors

Lung cancer is more common in older adults. It is rare in people under age 45.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer.

The more cigarettes you smoke per day & the earlier you started smoking, the greater your risk of lung cancer. There is no facts that smoking low-tar cigarettes lowers the risk.

However, lung cancer has occurred in individuals who have never smoked.

The following may also increase one's risk of lung cancer:

Secondhand smoke (breathing the smoke of others) increases your risk of lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated three,000 nonsmoking adults will die each year from lung cancer related to breathing secondhand smoke.

  High levels of air pollution

  High levels of arsenic in drinking water

  Asbestos

  Radon gas

  Radiation therapy to the lungs

  Relatives history of lung cancer

  Exposure to cancer-causing chemicals such as uranium, beryllium, vinyl chloride, nickel chromates, coal products, mustard gas, chloromethyl ethers, gasoline, & diesel exhaust