Types of Lung Cancer

Types of lung cancer are mainly of two types, i.e. small cell and non-small cell. The lung cancer is the most devastating cancer taking several lives each year.

This lung cancer is considered as the most common cancer which claims more lives than the major cancers like breast, colon, prostate and lymph combined. This lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, among both men and women.

Lung cancer is the growth of abnormal cells anywhere in the lungs which can affect any part of the respiratory system. As estimated by the analysis the major cause of deaths, almost 90% is smoking.

This can be well prevented and decrease the development of this disease. Let us first see that risks of lung cancer before knowing the types of lung cancer.

The risk of lung cancer totally depends on certain factors like since how long the person is smoking and smokes how many cigarettes per day. It is proved that quitting smoking at certain point can gradually reduce the risk of developing the cancer.

The statistics say that this cancer is the leading cancer deaths in both men and women. Less than 50% of people who develop this cancer are said to live for one year more and 15% of people who develop this cancer live for 5 more years.

The other leading causes of this cancer are the asbestos, radon and secondhand smoke. Therefore avoiding exposure to the above can also decrease the risk to a large extent.

The main drawback of this disease is that it is seldom detected in its early stages as the symptoms (Lung Cancer Symptoms) are predicted in an advanced stage thus making it very difficult for recovery after lung cancer treatment. Although the survival rates for this cancer have improved, they remain much lower than those of many other types of cancer.

Various Types of Lung Cancer

There are two types of lung cancer mainly. They are the small cell and non-small cell. These types of lung cancer differ mainly in their origin, growth and affect. They are treated differently depending on various factors.

The small cell type is considered spreads early in the course of the disease. These types of lung most common in the smokers and seldom occur in the non smokers.

For any types of lung cancer the surgical method of treatment is not an option, instead its best treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Even so, the five-year survival rate for small cell lung cancer is very low.

Among the types of lung cancer the non-small cell lung cancer is more common and accounts for more than 75 percent of total lung cancers. In rare cases this types of lung cancer can be surgically treated if caught early. There are four major categories of non-small cell lung cancer:

• Squamous cell carcinoma: The most common types of lung cancer which occurs in men affects the cells lining the airways.
• Adenocarcinoma: The most common types of lung cancer which occur in women affects the mucous-producing cells of the lung. Surprisingly this occurs in people who don’t smoke or are second hand smokers
• Large cell carcinoma: This type originates in the peripheral part of the lungs.
• Bronchoaveolar carcinoma: This type grows more slowly than other forms of the disease making it very uncommon.