The lungs are a pair of respiratory organs located within the chest cavity. Lung cancer is formed when normal lung cells undergo several levels of change or mutation then become cancerous cells and begin to grow and grow without control. Cancer cells can spread to the organs or structures close to them and spread to other limbs such as lymph nodes, liver, bones and brain. Lung cancer is a common cancer worldwide and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women. In Malaysia, lung cancer is the third most common cancer after breast cancer and colon cancer. It’s usually slow to be detected with most patients in the final stage, so the estimated lifetime of 5 years is only about 15%.

Type of Lung Cancer

There are two main types of lung cancer:
1) Non-small cell lung cancer
2) Small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer
The main and most common types involve about 75-85% of total lung cancer.
It is divided into:
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Adenocarcinoma
- Other- large cell, anaplastic, clear cell

Small cell lung cancer
* Lung cancer type less common (15%).
* Have a tendency to pre-spread to some parts of the other organs with nearly 80-90% found to have spread out of the lungs when the diagnosis is made.

Lung Cancer Stage
Lung cancer is divided into several stages or levels based on how far the lung cancer has spread when diagnosing. This level will determine the treatment and its prognosis.

Non-small cell lung cancer
Stage 1
At this stage the cancer in the lung tissue does not exceed 5 cm and does not pass the membrane part of the base of the lung tissue and has not spread to the lymph nodes.

Stage 2
Cancer exceeds the size of 7 cm or between 5-7 cm but spreads to the nearby lymph nodes or attacks the adjacent pleura layer, diaphragm or nerve.

Stage 3A
Cancer that has spread from the lungs to the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest.

Stage 3B
Cancer that has spread locally but involves important structures such as heart, blood vessels, trachea and esophagus and / or spread to various lymph nodes on both sides of the chest.

Stage 4
Cancer has spread to other lung lobes or other parts of the body such as the liver, bone or brain or presence of cancer cells in the pleural fluid (accumulation of fluid around the lungs).

Small cell lung cancer
* Limited = Lung cancer including outbreaks to the lymph nodes is limited to only one part of the chest.
* Widespread = Cancer has spread to other lungs and / or lymph nodes and / or other organs.

Lung Cancer Risk Factors
Risk is a factor that increases the chances of a person getting a disease. For lung cancer, the known factors are:
1) Smoking
2) Exposure to chemical / chemical industry
3) Family history & self
4) Passive smoker

Lung Cancer Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of the patient’s lung cancer depend on the location and size of the tumor and whether there is a local infection or away from the lungs.
1) Cough
2) Hemoptysis
3) Difficulty breathing
4) Chest pain
5) Respiratory noise (rustle) and / or change of sound (gay)
6) Weight loss and loss of appetite
7) Tired and lethargic
8) Prolonged pneumonia
9) Swelling and redness at the top of the chest, neck and face
10) Nausea, vomiting, thirst, constipation or miscarriage due to increased calcium levels in the blood (hypercalcemia)
11) Symptoms of metastasis to other organs