Lung Cancer Diagnosis

There are no specific ways for preventing lung cancer but one can reduce the risk of getting affected by this lethal disease simply by avoiding the use of tobacco products. The primary preventive measure that any one has to follow is to avoid habit of smoking. If you’ve not smoked before, then don’t start to do so, but if you are a chain smoker then you have to quit smoking. Staying away from alcoholic drinks will help a lot as it has a tendency to increase the severity of cancer cells. Another most important aspect is to avoid getting exposed to toxic gases such as radon and carcinogens at work place. Use of face mask and gloves at work will serve this purpose. Maintaining a proper diet is also important because even unhealthy food can increase your risk of getting affected by lung cancer. Healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins will defend you from lung cancer. Make sure that you consult a doctor early on being suspicious that you may be affected by the disease because this disease can be cured effectively if it is diagnosed at an early stage.

The common symptoms of lung cancer include smoking, breathing difficulties, cyanosis etc. The process of diagnosing lung cancer can be assisted by various methods such as chest X-rays, bronchoscopy, CT scan, MRI scan and PET scan. These tests are channeled in order to detect where the tumor is located in the human system. The procedure which is most commonly performed to detect lung cancer is called biopsy. If the diagnostic test confirms the presence of lung cancer, an oncologist will determine the stage of the NSCLC by finding out how far the cancer has spread. This staging process involves four stages. If the cancer cells are confined only to one of the lungs it is diagnosed as the first stage. If it is found in the chest it is staged as two or three depending upon its severity and if it has spread to all other parts of the body it is staged as four which is found to be the most grievous stage. People having stage four lung cancer generally get a shorter period of survival not more than six months.

Genetic susceptibility has been found from many case studies that has determined that a certain group of chain smokers in world population was not affected by lung cancer. On the other hand those people who were exposed to certain amount of passive smoking have been affected by lung cancer. The detailed analysis of this case study leads to genetic susceptibility. Those people belonging to certain class of gene are found to have a substantial immune system which is firm enough to fight against the cancer cells. It has been observed that the risk factor is generally high in case of first descendants of patients with lung cancer. This risk can be said to exceed the relative risk involved in smoking. Investigators provide evidence for the existence of specific gene factor which can lead to lung cancer in certain people. It has been found that lung cancer survival period is only five years from the time of diagnosis and it has always been a challenging task to cure lung cancer though many innovations have evolved to provide better treatments. Genetic susceptibility can be avoided by taking healthy food.

Lung cancer is a common disease amongst deadliest ones. It is usually caused by smoking of cigar, pipe, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, cannabis. Second hand smoking can also increase the risk of being affected by lung cancer. Consuming alcohol is very injurious to health and at the same time can cause cancer over the lungs. Exposure to radon which is released from the soil into the environment through the foundation can cause lung cancer to the people living in such environment. Further exposure to carcinogens and asbestos may also result in the growth of cancer cells. Pesticides and other insecticides, heavy metals, air pollution also contributes to this pernicious disease. Though there are many possible causes for this disease there are still options for staying away from it. This is possible if we avoid the habit of smoking and by having constant check on radon levels in our living environment. Government should also play an active role by banning the use of tobacco products in order to control this disease. This will definitely result in considerable decrease in the number of deaths due to lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a disease that normally occurs due to anarchical growth of cells in the tissues of lungs which in turn has some interaction with blood leading to certain changes in the blood properties. Therefore certain researchers believe that it is easy to diagnose lung cancer by taking blood test for the patients. Preliminary data that has been found from a certain research identified the presence of specific proteins or biomarkers in blood which may be a sign for presence of cancer. But this kind of blood test can’t be performed alone as it has to be endorsed with supplements such as x-ray or any kind of scan. Though the image obtained from x-ray or scan helps to locate the cancer infected area, blood samples from infected area are critical to identify the stage and treatment options. This is a kind of innovation technique that has been found in recent past but it has not been implemented in effective measures. Researchers are trying out for better methods which can give complete report about the cancer cells. All possible methods are being worked out for curing and for providing comfort to the patients during their survival period.