LUNG CANCER

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is it?

• Lung cancer starts as a tumor (lump) and can be found as a spot on a chest x-ray. This spot is a tumor in your lung. Normal cells divide (split) in a planned way making more cells only when needed. Cancer happens when cells grow and divide without control or order, often making too much tissue. This is called a tumor. Cancer cells may grow into nearby healthy tissue. Or, they may break away from the tumor. These cells travel through the blood stream or lymphatic (lim-fah-tik) system to other parts of the body. It is called metastasis (meh-tas-ta-sis) or "mets" when tumor cells spread to other areas of the body.
  
  
• The lungs are 2 hollow organs in your chest. They stretch like a balloon when you breathe in, filling them with air. They collapse as you breathe the air out. They are made of sections (lobes), blood and lymph vessels, nerves, and air ducts (alveoli). The lungs connect to the bronchial (bron-kee-ull) tubes or airways which bring air into the lungs. Lung cancer can spread to other parts of the body, like the liver, bone, and brain.

Causes: You cannot catch lung cancer from someone else who has it. But, there are things that put you at higher risk for getting lung cancer.

• Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer. The longer you smoked, the greater your risk of getting lung cancer. Also, your risk increases with the greater number of cigarettes you smoked each day. Breathing someone else's cigarette smoke (second-hand smoke) can also increase your chances of getting lung cancer.
  
  
• Air pollution may also cause lung cancer. Other causes may be in the air you breathe at work if you are around some chemicals. Some examples of these chemicals are asbestos, arsenic, chromium, nickel, iron, or radioactive material.

Signs and Symptoms: During the early stages of lung cancer there are not usually any symptoms. Later you may have one or more of the following signs or symptoms.

• Achy chest pain that is not just in one spot.
  
  
• Constant cough or coughing up a lot of sputum or bloody sputum.
  
  
• Feeling tired, weak, or losing weight.
  
  
• Having lots of colds may be another sign.
  
  
• Wheezing or trouble breathing.
  
  
• Other problems if the cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

Care:

• Your caregiver will first do tests to find out which of the 2 major kinds of lung cancer you have, non-small cell lung cancer or small cell lung cancer. These two lung cancers may be treated differently. So, caregivers must know what kind you have. Then your caregiver will do tests to find out what stage the cancer is in. Staging includes measuring the lump and having tests to see if the cancer has spread. The tests may include bone and lung scans, and tissue or bone biopsies (samples). The results of the tests will help you and your caregiver decide on a treatment plan that is best for you.
  
  
• There are many different ways to treat cancer. You may need to take anticancer or hormone medicines. You may also need radiation or surgery. Often two or more kinds of treatment will be used together such as medicine and radiation. Or, you may choose medicine and surgery to treat your cancer.

Coping: Accepting that you have cancer is hard. You and those close to you may feel scared, depressed, angry, or sad. These are normal feelings. Talk to your caregivers, family, or friends about your feelings. You may also want to join a cancer support group. This is a group of people who also have lung cancer. Call or write one of the following organizations for more information.

• American Cancer Society
  Phone: 1-800-227-2345
  Web Address: http://www.cancer.org
  

• National Cancer Institute
  Cancer Information Service
  NCI Public Inquiries Office
  Bethesda, MD 20892-8322
  Phone: 1-301-496-9096
  Phone: 1-800-422-6237
  Web Address: http://www.nci.nih.gov
  

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.