What is Lung Cancer?
Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lung. Normal lung tissue is made up of cells that are programmed by nature to create lungs of a certain shape and function. Sometimes the instructions to a cell go haywire and that cell and its offspring reproduce wildly, without regard for the shape and function of a lung. That wild reproduction can form tumors that clog up the lung and make it stop functioning as it should. Because of the large size of the lungs, cancer may grow for many years, undetected, without causing suspicion. In fact, lung cancer can spread outside the lungs without causing any symptoms. Adding to the confusion, the most common symptom of lung cancer, a persistent cough, can often be mistaken for a cold or bronchitis (Harpole, 1999).
What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
Lung cancer may cause a number of symptoms. A cough is one of the more common ones and is likely to happen when a tumor grows and blocks an air passage. Another symptom is chest, shoulder, or back pain, which feels like a constant ache that may or may not be related to coughing. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, fatigue, repeated pneumonia or bronchitis, coughing up blood, hoarseness, or swelling of the neck and face (Ginsberg, 1983).
There may also be symptoms that do not seem to be at all related to the lungs. These may be caused by the spread of lung cancer to other parts of the body. Depending on which organs are affected, symptoms can include headaches, weakness, pain, bone fractures, bleeding, or blood clots. There are two different types of lung cancer: Small cell and Non-small cell.....
