Timing of Therapies Boosts Cancer Survival Rates

Cigarette smoking is by far the most common risk factor and cause of developing lung cancer. The more a person smokes in their life, the greater risk they have for developing the disease. Secondhand smoke is also a risk factor, with 3,000 additional deaths per year attributed to it. Lung cancer can and does occur in non-smoking adults. Additional risk factors for lung cancer include exposure to radon gas, arsenic in drinking water, asbestos exposure, radiation therapy to the lungs, and exposure to chemicals such as uranium, beryllium, vinyl chloride, nickel chromates, coal products, mustard gas, chloromethyl ethers, gasoline, and diesel exhaust.

Symptoms are variable, but breathing problems are the most common, including a persistent cough, sometimes with blood, shortness of breath, wheezing, and chest pain. Other general symptoms of cancer may be present, such as unintentional weight loss, loss of appetite, joint pain, swelling, bone pain, and in some cases, specific symptoms of facial paralysis and eyelid drooping (Horner’s syndrome).

MRI, CT scan, and X-rays may show a tumor in the lungs, but the gold standard of diagnosis is a biopsy of the lungs. Treatment is dependent on the type of lung cancer, but will involve some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

There are no effective screening methods for lung cancer. The most important thing a person can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer is to quit smoking and avoid secondhand smoke. It is never too late to quit smoking, and a person’s risk of developing lung cancer drops significantly even one year after quitting. After fifteen years of quitting, an ex-smoker’s risk of death due to smoking is returned to that of a person who has never smoked.