With all of the attention on breast cancer, many people believe more women die from it than from other forms of the disease. But thanks to smoking, lung cancer kills more women than breast, uterine and ovarian cancer combined. The Lung Cancer Foundation estimates 200 women die every day from it. The American Lung Association (ALA) says lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of both women and men here in the U.S., and it’s diagnosed mainly in older people. This year alone, it’s expected to claim the lives of more than 158,000 Americans, which is about 27 percent of all cancer deaths. The ALA says more than half of people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed. While many lung cancer patients never smoked, the ALA estimates …show more content…
Experts stress the type of cigarette-- filtered, light; low-tar has absolutely no bearing on reducing your cancer risk. People who’ve stopped smoking are also at high risk of developing cancer. There are two main types of lung cancer, small cell and non-small cell, and each is treated differently. Doctors say about nine out of ten cases of all lung cancers are the non-small cell type, which is broken down into three categories: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large cell undifferentiated carcinoma. While many people have preconceived notions about lung cancer symptoms, it actually depends on the type of cancer a person has. Squamous cell lung cancer, which is more common in men, attacks near the airways of the lung. It causes the so-called classic symptoms like a nagging cough, hoarseness, or coughing up blood or rust-colored …show more content…
If your doctor and you decide surgery is the best option, there are several procedures the surgeon can perform to remove the cancer. In a wedge resection, the surgeon will take out a small section of lung that contains the tumor. Healthy tissue will also be removed. Segmental resection requires removal of a larger part of the diseased lung. Lobectomy is exactly what it sounds like—the surgeon will remove the entire lobe of the diseased lung, while a pneumonectomy takes out the entire