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Lung Cancer |1
Lung Cancer: The Number One Cancer Killer in the World
Monica Simental
Algebra 1- Mr. Gomez
Period 2
May 23, 2014
Lung Cancer |2
Introduction
Lung cancer is the deadliest and most common type of cancer for both men and women.
This type of cancer is most common in older adults. Although smoking is the leading cause of
lung cancer, there are also many other things that can cause it. In its early stages it is hard to
detect lung cancer only because there usually are no symptoms in its early stages.
Lung Cancer |3
History
Lung Cancer is not a new disease but it is now one of the most widespread diseases in
human history. It was not until 1761 that doctors decided that lung cancer a disease. Knowing
that smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, the history of lung cancer and when people started
to smoke are similar and started around the same time. Fritz Lickint discovered that smoking
may be the main cause of lung cancer. Ever since he made this discovery it started public
awareness about how dangerous smoking is. Once the public started understanding the damage
that smoking did to the body, a worldwide antismoking campaign happened. This happened
because the people were trying to get the population to realize that the dangers were real and
they were not going to go away. The Surgeon General of the US finally made the
recommendation that people should stop smoking to improve their health.
Lung Cancer |4
Two Types
Non- small Cell Lung Cancer
Non- small cell lung cancer is the most common type of cancer. About 25% to 30% of all
lung cancers are Squamous Cell Carcinomas. This cancer starts in early squamous cells (flat cells
that line the inside of the airways in the lungs). This type is usually caused by smoking. It’s also
often in the middle of the lungs. About 40% of lung cancers are adenocarcinomas, the second
type of non- small cell lung cancer. Smokers are at risk to get this, but it is also mostly common
in non-smokers. It is more common for women to develop this cancer than men, and it is most
common in younger people. Adenocarcinoma is usually found in outer parts of the lung, and
usually grows slower than other types of lung cancer.
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Small cell lung cancer used to be referred to as oat cell carcinoma. Small cell lung cancer
is an aggressive type of lung cancer. If it is not treated in a few weeks it could lead to death. If
this type of cancer is limited-stage cancer it should be treated with chemotherapy and radiation,
but if it at and extensive-stage it is treated with chemotherapy alone. Small cell lung cancer is
aggressive; it grows and spreads quickly, and is sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation.
Lung Cancer |5
Cause
One of the main causes of lung cancer is smoking. Smoking causes cancer because the
tobacco in the cigarette has more than 50 cancer causing chemicals. Smoking is the most
preventable cause of cancer in the world. One in four people in the United Kingdom die of
cancer. Smoking also increases the risk a smoker getting many other cancers which include
cancers of the mouth, liver, stomach, and some types of leukemia and breast cancer. Every
year, about 200,000 people in the United States get lung cancer, and more than 159,000
people die from cancer. Secondhand smoke also increases a person’s risk of getting lung
cancer.
Other factors that cause this cancer include expose to asbestos dust, arsenic, chromium,
nickel, ionizing radiation, chloromethyl methyl ether, coal products, mustard gas, and vinyl
chloride. Although there are many things that cause lung cancer, I’m going to focus on 6
main causes which include radon, asbestos, and lung disease.
Starting with Radon, radon is an invisible, odorless, and tasteless radioactive gas that
occurs naturally in soil and rocks. People who work in mines may be exposed to the radon.
Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals. Asbestos fibers tend to break easily into
particles. When the particles are inhaled, damaging cells and increasing the risk for lung
cancer. Studies have shown that workers who have been exposed to large amounts of
asbestos have a risk of developing lung cancer that is 3 to 4 times greater than those who
haven’t been exposed. Certain lung diseases increase a person's chance of developing lung
cancer, such as tuberculosis.
Lung Cancer |6
Death
Lung cancer is often a life-threatening disease because it tends to spread in this way even
before it can be found. Pain at the primary cancer site and in any place where it has spread and
shortness of breath, dyspnea are the first symptoms that they need immediate attention. People
have described a syndrome in which a person is considered to be actively dying. In the early
stages of this cancer, increased time spent in bed sleeping, the development of confusion, and the
inability to eat or drink are common. As this continues, the person starts to lose consciousness
and the dying person becomes hard to wake up. 15% in men and 14% in women cancers is Lung
Cancer. It is responsible for 31% deaths in men and 26% deaths in women.
Lung Cancer |7
Solutions
Treatment depends on a number of things, including the type of lung cancer, size,
location, the stage that the cancer is at, and the general health of the patient. Many different
treatments and combinations of treatments may be used to control lung cancer, and to improve
quality of the person’s life. This disease is usually too advanced by the time doctors diagnose it
and want to surgically remove it because in its early stages there are often no symptoms of lung
cancer.
All treatments are made and tested in laboratories. These treatments must be fully
researched before they can be used for everyone. They do this so we know that they are safe. The
treatments that doctors use include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, biological therapies, surgery,
microwave treatment, blood thinning drugs, cholesterol reducing drugs, diabetes drugs, and
unblocking an airway.
Lung Cancer |8
Statistics
There are about 224,210 new cases of Lung Cancer and about 159,260 deaths. Statistics
show the number of new cases and deaths per every 100,000 people, New cases was 60.1 per
100,000 men and women per year, and deaths was 49.5 per 100,000 men and women per year.
The lifetime risk of developing cancer was about 6.9 percent of men and women.
Reports from 1878 showed that only 1% of all cancer autopsies were from the lung and
that number rose to close to 15% by the 1900s. By the year 1912, there had only been 374 case
reports of lung cancer on record. In 1852, only 0.3% of the population had lung cancer. Then by
1952, the numbers had gone as high as 5.66%.
Lung Cancer |9
Math Page
10.80%
More than 84
30.10%
75-84
30.50%
65-74
19.60%
55-64
7.80%
45-54
1.10%
35-44
0.10%
20-34
0%
Less than 20
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Percent of Deaths by Age Group
This bar graph shows the percent if deaths according to age groups. People in the age group of
64 to 74 have had the most deaths with a percentage of 30.50. The people in the age group of
less than 20 have the least with a percentage of 0.
L u n g C a n c e r | 10
Two of the four lines are for each sex, male or female, by adenocarcinoma and
squamous cell carcinoma. The x axis shows the year of diagnoses and lists the years from
1981 to 2009. The y axis shows the age-standardized rate per 100,000. The female
adenocarcinoma rate more than double from 1982 to 2009 and is almost at the same rate
as the male adenocarcinoma rates for the year 2008. The female squamous cell carcinoma
rates have remained the same around 5 per 100,000.
L u n g C a n c e r | 11
Bibliography

Clinic Staff. (2014, March 19). Lung cancer. Definition. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lung-cancer/basics/definition/CON20025531
Lung Cancer usually doesn't have any signs in its earlier stages. Although, some signs
that you are developing lung cancer can include a new cough that doesn't go away, coughing up
blood, shortness of breath, chest pain, losing weight without trying, bone pain, or headaches.
Smoking is one of the main causes of lung cancer. Someone exposed to secondhand smoke also
has the same chance of getting lung cancer just as much as a person who has never smoked or
been exposed to smoke. Carcinogens cause lung tissue damage, which then causes cells to act
abnormally. Two types of lung cancer are small cell and non- small cell lung cancer. Lung cancer
spreads to other parts of the body like the brain and the bones. There are four stages of cancer.
Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted drug therapy, clinical trials,
and palliative care.

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results ProgramTurning Cancer Data into
Discovery. (n.d.). Cancer of the Lung and Bronchus. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/lungb.html
Graphs showing the number of new cases and deaths per every 100,000 people, New
cases was 60.1 per 100,000 men and women per year, and deaths was 49.5 per 100,000 men and
women per year. The lifetime risk of developing cancer was about 6.9 percent of men and
women.
L u n g C a n c e r | 12

Lung Cancer 101 | Lungcancer.org. (n.d.). Lung Cancer 101 | Lungcancer.org. Retrieved
May 19, 2014, from http://www.lungcancer.org/find_information/publications/163lung_cancer_101/268-types_and_staging
There are two major types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung
cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer has five main stages. Small cell lung cancer has a limited
stage and an extensive stage. The five stages of non-small cell lung include, cancer is only in the
lungs and has not spread, the cancer is in the lung and nearby lymph nodes, the cancer is in the
lungs, the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest and stage 3 has two types. If the cancer has
spread only to lymph nodes on the same side of the chest where the cancer started, it is called
stage 3A. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes on the opposite side of the chest, or above
the collar bone, it is called stage 3B. Stage 4 is the most advanced stage of lung cancer; the
cancer has spread to both lungs, and to other parts of the body.

Research into lung cancer treatment. (2014, April 3). : Cancer Research UK: Cancer Help
UK.
Retrieved
May
19,
2014,
from
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-
help/type/lung-cancer/treatment/whats-new-in-lung-cancer-research
All treatments are made and tested in laboratories. These treatments must be fully
researched before they can be used for everyone. They do this so we know that they are safe. The
treatments that doctors use include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, biological therapies, surgery,
microwave treatment, blood thinning drugs, cholesterol reducing drugs, diabetes drugs, and
unblocking an airway.

.
(n.d.).
.
Retrieved
May
20,
2014,
from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2927383/
Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death. Cancer is not a new disease.
L u n g C a n c e r | 13
The word cancer came from a Greek words karkinos (460–370 B.C). Some of the earliest
evidence of human bone cancer was found in mummies in Egypt. The world’s oldest recorded
case of breast cancer is from ancient Egypt in 1500 BC. It was recorded that there was no
treatment for the cancer other than palliative treatment.

Smoking and cancer. (n.d.). : Cancer Research UK. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/smokingand-cancer
Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer deaths. The tobacco in the cigarettes
contains different harmful chemical substances. People who smoke are not the only ones who
have a risk of getting lung cancer! Someone who gets second hand smoke it also at risk for
lung cancer just as much as a person who doesn’t smoke or get any second hand smoke.

McCance, K. L., & Huether, S. E. (2010). Pathophysiology: the biologic basis for disease
in adults and children sixth edition. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book.
There are two different groups. Non- small cell and small cell lung cancer are then
divided into three other categories which are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and
large dell carcinoma.

Small Cell Lung Cancer. (n.d.). Small Cell Lung Cancer. Retrieved May 22, 2014, from
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/280104-overview
Small cell lung cancer used to be referred to as oat cell carcinoma. Small cell lung cancer is
an aggressive type of lung cancer. If it is not treated in a few weeks it could lead to death. Small
cell lung cancer is aggressive; it grows and spreads quickly, and is sensitivity to chemotherapy
and radiation.
L u n g C a n c e r | 14

New systemic treatment funding model. (n.d.). CCO. Retrieved May 22, 2014, from
https://www.cancercare.on.ca/cms/one.aspx?portalId=1377&pageId=259357
Two of the four lines are for each sex, male or female, by adenocarcinoma and squamous cell
carcinoma. The x axis shows the year of diagnoses and lists the years from 1981 to 2009.
The y axis shows the age-standardized rate per 100,000. The female adenocarcinoma rate more
than double from 1982 to 2009 and is almost at the same rate as the male adenocarcinoma rates
for the year 2008. The female squamous cell carcinoma rates have remained the same around 5
per 100,000.