LUNG CANCER

What is lung cancer?

A type of cancer that begins in the lungs.
Is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells
that start off in one or both lungs; usually in
the cells that line the air passages. The
abnormal cells do not develop into healthy
lung tissue, they divide rapidly and form
tumors.
Malignant tumors arising from the
respiratory epithelium.
Most common types are
epidermoid (squamous cell),
adenocarcinoma, small-cell (oat
cell), and large-cell (anaplastic)
2 TYPES OF LUNG CANCER

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Approximately 85 to 90 percent of lung cancer cases are NSCLC. There
are three types of NSCLC:
Adenocarcinoma is a slow-growing lung cancer usually discovered in
an outer area of the lung, often before it has a chance to spread. It
occurs more often in smokers, but its the most common form of lung
cancer in nonsmokers as well.
Squamous cell carcinoma generally occurs in the center of the lung. It
tends to develop in smokers.
Large cell carcinoma occurs anywhere in the lung, and it usually grows
and spreads at a rapid rate.
Small Cell Lung Cancer
SCLC usually starts near the center of the chest
in the bronchi. Its a fast-growing form of cancer
that tends to spread in its early stages. It tends
to grow and spread much faster than NSCLC.
SCLC is rare in nonsmokers.
INCIDENCE
Lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell) is the second most
common cancer in both men and women.
In the Philippines, lung cancer is also the top cause of cancer-related
deaths among men;
and the third cause of cancer deaths among women, outranked by
breast and cervical cancer. Health experts estimate that 10 Filipinos
die of smoking-related diseases every hour.