Frequently asked questions about lung cancer

What is lung cancer?

Answer:

In its simplest terms, lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal, cancerous cells in one or both of the lungs. Lumps of these cells form cancerous tumours that make it difficult for the lung to function properly.

Who gets lung cancer?

Answer:

According to the NHS, lung cancer is UK's biggest cause of death from cancer, with 34,500 people dying from it each year. It's the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the UK, with a ratio of three cases in women for every four cases in men. According to Cancer Research UK,  around 41,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK in 2008 - 112 people every day. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the UK after breast cancer and lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men after prostate cancer.

What are the risk factors for lung cancer?

Answer:

The NHS says smoking is the single greatest avoidable risk factor for cancer. It is responsible for one in four of all deaths from cancer in the UK, and around half of all regular smokers will die from the habit. Smoking causes 90% of lung cancers in men and up to 86% of cases in women.

There are benefits from quitting, once you stop smoking, your risk of lung cancer starts to go down. 15 years after you've given up, your lung cancer risk is almost the same as that of a non-smoker.

What are the most common symptoms of lung cancer?

Answer:

This is a tricky one because sometimes there aren't any symptoms of lung cancer. One-quarter of people don’t even have symptoms when their lung cancer is advanced. In other people, symptoms that may suggest lung cancer can include:

• Shortness of breath
• Coughing that doesn't go away
• Wheezing
• Coughing up blood
• Chest pain
• Fever
• Weight loss

Can non-smokers get lung cancer?

Answer:

The March 2006 lung cancer death of nonsmoker Dana Reeve, the widow of Superman actor Christopher Reeve, shed some light on this issue. It turns out that more than 60% of new lung cancer patients have never smoked or already have quit smoking,  say experts . In some of these people, exposure to secondhand smoke may actually be a culprit. Reeve, for example, a lounge singer, performed in some very smoky clubs. So in short, yes nonsmokers can -- and do -- get lung cancer. Some cases of lung cancer develop after a long-time smoker has quit, although the risk decreases with time

How is lung cancer treated?

Answer:

To treat lung cancer, surgery to remove the tumour, radiotherapy (X-rays directed at the site of the tumour that kill or shrink cancer cells), chemotherapy (systemic medicines that kill all fast-growing cells in the body including cancer cells), and experimental treatments are all part of your doctors tool box. Before deciding on which treatment or combination of treatments is right for you, your doctor will have to determine how advanced your lung cancer is, a process called staging.