Archive for the 'Lung Cancer' Category

Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer type, in the United States alone over one hundred and fifty thousand citizens died last year.

Further more, there were more than 200,000 new reported cases, say the American Cancer Society.

Certain chemicals found in the urine of smokers, it has been found, means that a person is eight and a half times more likely to develop the disease.

The study leader, Jian-Min Yuan, who is an associate professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, said that both NNAL and cotinine are independent factors of higher risk.

The first is a known carcinogen and the second is a byproduct of nicotine. They are both shown to be factors irrelevant of the amount of cigarettes smoked or of the length of time someone has been a smoker.

Over five hundred subjects were looked at over a ten year period. Yuan and his team studied metabolites by regular urine testing, during the research funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute.  The smokers were divided between low, medium and high levels of the two chemicals.

Lung cancer is one of the foremost chronic diseases resulting in a high number of fatalities annually.

Like all other cancers, lung cancer is caused by the rapid and uncontrolled development of abnormal cells.

It starts in the lungs and the abnormal cell activity leads to the growth of tumors which sometimes spread to other body organs creating a critical health condition.

Conventional cancer therapies have traditionally employed much usage of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which have been associated with side effects such as loss of appetite, headaches, nausea, vomiting and loss of hair.

Some of these side effects are harsh and take a toll on patients. While drugs are available to combat these side effects, increasingly, medical practitioners as well as patients have been exploring alternative treatment therapies.

As with most other cancers, fatigue is a constant condition that you must grapple with. Massage is an effective home remedy that can be applied to alleviate fatigue.

Ginger is a widely utilized herb and is well known for its efficacy in combating side effects such as nausea.

Lung cancer basically falls into two categories: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer is also of two types: small cell carcinoma and combined small cell carcinoma.

These two types of small cell lung cancers include various types of cells which grow and spread in different ways.

These cancers are named according to the types of cells originated in the cancer and their appearance when observed under the microscope.

Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for small cell lung cancer

Cigarette smoking is the main risk factor for lung cancer. However, small cell lung cancer can be due to:

• Smoking cigarettes, pipes or cigars;
• Exposure to secondhand smoke;
• Exposure to radon or asbestos increases risk of small cell lung cancer by 9 times.

Coughing, chest pain, shortness of breathe – possible signs of lung cancer

Consult your doctor if you have any of the following problems:

• Coughing that won’t go away;
• Difficulty breathing;
• Severe chest pain that won’t go away and made worse by deep breathing;
• Coughing up blood;
• Hoarseness;
• Swelling of your neck and face;
• Suppressing appetite;

We have long known about the importance of proper nutrition in staying healthy and avoiding cancer.

But now it seems that some people who take extra supplements in the hopes of preventing cancer may actually be making their situation worse.

A new study has shown that smokers and former smokers who take supplements of beta-carotene, retinol and lutein in amounts greater than traditional multivitamin doses over the long term may actually increase their risk of lung cancer.

Surprisingly, when people at high risk for lung cancer due to smoking (either presently or formerly) get carotenoids from dietary sources, it helps.

It is only getting excessive amounts through supplementation that seems to cause the problem. Researchers are unclear why this happens.

There are two types of lung cancer: small cell, and non-small cell. The most common type is non-small-cell lung cancer; small-cell tends to be more aggressive and responds better to cancer chemotherapy and radiation rather than surgery.

Beta-carotene seemed to increase the risk of small-cell lung cancer in particular, while retinol and lutein seemed to have more of an impact on non-small-cell lung cancer.

Besides smoking, diet has also been implicated in the development of lung cancer.

Therefore, supplementing your diet with vitamins can reduce the risk of lung cancer.

Vitamin A

Consume foods rich in beta-carotene, which is the precursor of vitamin A.

They have a great ability to neutralize free radicals and decrease the risk of stomach and lung cancers.

You can get this vitamin from fresh fruits and green leaf vegetables. If you don’t get sufficient amounts from these, then you should take supplements.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C suppresses the growth of free radicals and protects DNA in the cells from any damage. The presence of free radicals can give you tumors for life. Destroying them is therefore extremely essential and can be achieved with the help of anti-oxidants.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E has the ability to destroy free radicals from damaging the cells [Vitamin E benefits]. It plays a great role in the functioning of the immune system, metabolism and restoring the DNA. These are very important factors to reduce the effects of lung cancer.

As much as 90% of lung cancers are caused by tobacco smoke. The risk increases with the number of cigarettes you smoke. Lung cancer tumors can be benign or malignant, but most lung cancers are due to malignant tumors only.

The effects of lung cancer on your body:

Lung cancer causes chest pain: Lung cancer tumors can also spread to various other organs of the chest. Most of the time, people with lung cancer experience chest pain because of the tumors pressing on the walls of chest. Also, these tumors can block the chest cavity and bind the heart completely with fluid.

Lung cancer causes severe coughing: Pressing of the tumors in the chest can cause you to develop a severe and frequent cough. While coughing, you will emit a lot of sputum and in severe lung cancer, patients can emit blood. Putting pressure on the nerves that control the voice box can cause voice hoarseness. Also, the tumors block the windpipe which leads to wheezing.

Lung cancer spreads easily to other organs: Unlike other cancers, lung cancer can easily spread to other organs of the body. The areas that are most frequently affected with lung cancer include: brain, glands, liver and bone.

New research in an animal model suggests that a diet high in inorganic phosphates, which are found in a variety of processed foods including meats, cheeses, beverages, and bakery products, might speed growth of lung cancer tumors and may even contribute to the development of those tumors in individuals predisposed to the disease.

The study also suggests that dietary regulation of inorganic phosphates may play an important role in lung cancer treatment.

The research, using a mouse model, was conducted by Myung-Haing Cho, D.V.M., Ph.D., and his colleagues at Seoul National University.

“Our study indicates that increased intake of inorganic phosphates strongly stimulates lung cancer development in mice, and suggests that dietary regulation of inorganic phosphates may be critical for lung cancer treatment as well as prevention,” said Dr. Cho.

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the world and is also the most frequently diagnosed solid tumor.

Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes over 75 percent of lung cancers and has an average overall 35-year survival rate of 14 percent.

Read more at EurekAlert

Researchers in China and the United States have identified mutations of two genes which appear to make ethnic Chinese more susceptible to lung cancer.

Their finding involves two genes, ABCB1 and ABCC1, which were previously thought to be linked to eliminating carcinogens from the lungs and protecting them against inhaled toxins.

In their study, the researchers analyzed the genes of 500 patients with lung cancer and 517 cancer-free participants in southeastern China.

“The investigators found that certain (gene) variants were found much more often in individuals with lung cancer than in cancer-free controls,” they wrote in a statement.

Among those with cancer, 31 percent were found with a certain mutation of the ABCB1 gene, while 27 percent were found with a variant of the ABCC1 gene.

But those same mutations were found in only 15 percent and 12 percent of participants in the cancer-free group.

“The variant (of ABCB1) was particularly associated with an increased risk of cancer in women and in individuals under age 60 years. It also was linked to a major type of lung cancer called adenocarcinoma,” the researchers said.

Read more at Reuters