Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. There are approximately 1,400,000 new cases per year; of those, about 85% are tobacco-related.
Causes of lung cancer
Experts in thoracic surgery explain that lung cancer appears when the cells are exposed over a long period of time to factors that are harmful to the organism.
The main factors that are related to the appearance of lung cancer are:
- Tobacco. Smokers have between 10 and 20 times the risk of developing lung cancer, including those who smoke light tobacco. Passive smokers are also at greater risk of developing the disease. It takes at least 15 years for people who quit smoking to approach the same risk of lung cancer as passive smokers. All statistics depend on the number of cigarettes smoked by each person. Up to 15% of lung cancer patients have never smoked.
- Occupational occupations. Workers in contact with asbestos, petroleum and its derivatives. It has also been related to exposure to nickel, radon, arsenic, chromates and chloromethyl ethers.
- Age. The risk of lung cancer increases with age, with the highest incidence between 60 and 70 years of age.
- Genetic factors. The risk is multiplied by 4 when there is a family history of the disease.
- Sex. Men have a rate three times higher than women. The reason is that men smoke more than women, although women have increased their consumption in recent years.
- Benign diseases. Patients with COPD have a higher risk of developing lung cancer. The disease has also been linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma and scarring from old lung diseases, such as tuberculosis.
Treatment and symptoms of lung cancer
Surgery is the first treatment to be considered in lung cancer, since it is the most effective, although it is only performed in early and some advanced stages. When the cancer is advanced, surgery with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy is sometimes considered.
To find out what stage the disease is in, a study is carried out on the patient based on a CAT (computerized axial tomography) and a PET (positron emission tomography).