The Threats of Lung Cancer
Uploaded by spootyhead on Apr 18, 2007
The Threats of Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is a major problem due to the fact of the popularity of smoking in the United States. Smoking ids the major cause of lung cancer. In fact 8 out of 10 of people that get diagnosed with lung cancer are smokers. Another major problem is that because most cases of lung cancer are discovered in relatively late stages only 10% of all lung cancer patients are cured. “Early detection improves odds, but doctors have little success at screening people.”(News Week 59) The reason it is not detected earlier is because it can take ten to forty years for the cancer cell to become large enough to create symptoms.
Lung cancer kills more men and women then any other form of cancer. “It is estimated that by the year 2000, over three hundred thousand people will die from lung cancer in the United States alone”(MedicineNet 1). The United States will spend up to two billion dollars a year to treat lung cancer. This is a real shame considering that lung cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent due to the fact that smoking is the major causes of it.
It is a will known fact that lung cancer is caused by smoking, but not many people know exactly what it is about cigarettes that causes lung cancer. It is not exactly the smoke it self, it’s the chemicals in the smoke that causes it. Some of the chemicals that cause lung cancer include radon, asbestos, bischolomethylether, nickel, chromates, coal tar, copper radioactive materials and arsenic.
There are four types of lung cancers that can form are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, large-cell carcinoma, and small-cell lung cancer. “The major types are small-cell lung cancer and nonsmall-cell lung cancer.”(OnHealth 1) Squamous cell carcinoma commonly starts in bronchi, which is the largest of the bronchial tree. It is the most curable form of lung cancer and is most common in male smokers. Adenocarcinoma is common is women and non-smokers. It spreads in the outer edges of the lung in the smaller bronchioles. Its location makes it very hard to detect. Large-cell carcinoma is not very common form of cancer. It is a large abnormal cell that forms in the outer edges of the lung. Small-cell lung cancer is the most series form of lung cancer. It forms in the central bronchi and spreads...