lungs cancer overview

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women and men in the United States and around the world. Lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as a cause of cancer death in women. In the United States in 2010, 157,300 people were projected to die from lung cancer, which is more than the number of deaths from colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined. Only 2% of people diagnosed with lung cancer that has spread to other areas of the body are alive five years after diagnosis, although the survival rate for lung cancers are diagnosed as early high, with approximately 49% survive five years or more.

Cancer occurs when normal cells change is made, which causes them to grow and multiply without control. The cells form a mass or tumor that differs from the surrounding tissue, from which it springs. Tumors are dangerous because they take oxygen, nutrients and space for healthy cells and because they attack and destroy or impair the normal function of tissues.

Most lung tumors are malignant. This means that they invade and destroy healthy tissue around them, and can spread throughout the body.

The tumors can spread to nearby lymph nodes or through the bloodstream to other organs. This process is called metastasis.

When cancer of the lung metastases, lung cancer is called primary tumor, and tumors in other parts of the body are called secondary cancers or metastases.

Some tumors of the lung metastatic tumors in other parts of the body. The lungs are a common place for metastatic disease. If so, cancer is considered cancer to the lungs. For example, if prostate cancer spreads into the bloodstream to the lungs is metastatic prostate cancer (secondary tumor) in the lungs and it is not lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a group of different tumors. Lung cancer is usually divided into two broad categories that about 95% of cases.

The division into groups is based on the type of cells that make up the cancer.

The two main types of lung cancer is characterized by the size of the tumor cells when viewed under a microscope. They are called small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC includes several subtypes of tumors.

SCLC is less common, but grow faster and are more likely to metastasis in NSCLC. SCLC often already spread to other parts of the body when cancer is diagnosed.

About 5% of lung cancers are rare cell types, including carcinoid tumors, lymphomas, among others.

Specific types of primary lung cancer are:

Adenocarcinoma (an NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, which represents 30% -40% of cases. A subtype of adenocarcinoma is bronchoalveolar carcinoma, which creates an appearance similar to pneumonia on chest radiograph.

Squamous cell carcinoma (NSCLC) lung cancer is the second most common, representing about 30% of cases.

Large cell cancer (another NSCLC) accounts for 10% of cases.

SCLC accounts for 20% of cases.

Carcinoid tumors represent 1% of cases