Type Lung Cancer

Type Lung Cancer

Cancerous Human Lung
This dissection of human lung tissue shows light-colored cancerous tissue in the center of the photograph. At bottom center lies the heart. While normal lung tissue is light pink in color, the tissue surrounding the cancer is black and airless, the result of a tarlike residue left by cigarette smoke. In their cancerous state, lung cells lack the cilia that normally catch and eliminate foreign particles inhaled into the lung. Mucus ordinarily cleared by bronchial cilia becomes trapped, blocking air passages. Epidemiologists estimate that cigarette smoking is directly responsible for about 85 percent of all lung cancer.
Oxygen reaches the blood through a series of tubes and passages in the lungs. The trachea, commonly known as the windpipe, brings air into the lungs. It divides into tubes called the bronchi, which divide into smaller branches called the bronchioles. At the end of the bronchioles are tiny air sacs known as alveoli. Most lung cancers start in the lining of the bronchi, but cancer can also begin in the trachea, bronchioles, or alveoli. About 20 percent of people with lung cancer have small cell carcinoma, a type of lung cancer that usually starts near the bronchi. Squamous cell carcinoma also often originates near the bronchi. It accounts for about 30 percent of all lung cancers. Adenocarcinomas, usually found in the outer region of the lung, account for about 40 percent of all lung cancer. Several rare types of lung cancers make up the remaining 10 percent of lung cancer cases.
Lung cancer often goes unnoticed in its early stages. The patient may develop a persistent cough or find that a chronic cough is worsening. Other symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, hoarseness, bloody fluid coughed up from the respiratory tract, and frequent bouts of bronchitis or pneumonia. Sometimes the first symptoms of lung cancer are bone pain, headaches, dizziness, or other signs that the disease has metastasized.

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