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When you breathe in, air passes from your nose or mouth through the windpipe (trachea), which divides into two tubes (airways), one going to each lung. These are known as the right and left bronchus and they divide to form smaller tubes called bronchioles, which carry air through the lungs. At the end of the bronchioles are millions of tiny air sacs called alveoli. In the alveoli, oxygen is absorbed from air breathed in and passes into the bloodstream to be circulated around the body.

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. The lungs are a pair of cone-shaped organs situated inside the chest, they bring oxygen into the body and take out waste carbon dioxide. There is a strong link between smoking and lung cancer. There are two main categories of lung cancer; Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) , and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). World-wide over 1 million people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.

Sometimes the instructions to a cell go haywire and that cell and its offspring reproduce wildly, without regard for the shape and function of a lung. That wild reproduction can form tumors that clog up the lung and make it stop functioning as it should. Because of the large size of the lungs, cancer may grow for many years, undetected, without causing suspicion. Lung cancer can spread outside the lungs without causing any symptoms.Adding to the confusion, the most common symptom of lung cancer, a persistent cough, can often be mistaken for a cold or bronchitis.

The main types of lung cancer are small cell lung carcinoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma. This distinction is important because the treatment varies; non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is sometimes treated with surgery, while small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) usually responds better to chemotherapy and radiation.The most common cause of lung cancer is long term exposure to tobacco smoke. The occurrence of lung cancer in non-smokers, who account for fewer than 10% of cases, appears to be due to a combination of genetic factors, radon gas, asbestos, and air pollution, including second-hand smoke.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. It is a leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes most lung cancers. The more cigarettes you smoke per day and the earlier you started smoking, the greater your risk of lung cancer. High levels of pollution, radiation and asbestos exposure may also increase risk.

Cancer of the lung, like all cancers, results from an abnormality in the body’s basic unit of life, the cell. Normally, the body maintains a system of checks and balances on cell growth so that cells divide to produce new cells only when needed. Disruption of this system of checks and balances on cell growth results in an uncontrolled division and proliferation of cells that eventually forms a mass known as a tumor.

Yet most lung cancer deaths could be prevented. That’s because smoking accounts for nearly 90 percent of lung cancer cases. Your risk of lung cancer increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes you smoke. If you quit smoking, even after smoking for many years, you can significantly reduce your chances of developing lung cancer. Protecting yourself from other risk factors for lung cancer, such as exposure to asbestos, radon and secondhand smoke, also decreases your risk.

Mesothelioma (mez-uh-thee-lee-O-muh) is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by a prolonged exposure to asbestos. Early diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer increases the amount of effective treatments. Unfortunately, due to the way it forms, the cancer may not manifest until anywhere between 20 to 50 years after an asbestos exposure, which often limits the types of treatments available. Asbestos is a kind of fiber present in a lot of the insulating and building substances which are naked to the human eye.

Smoking Cigarettes

Cigarette smoking is an unhealthy habit, which most Americans would like to break, but unfortunately find it hard due to the addicting substances cigarettes are made with. There are various warnings and advertisings encouraging individuals to quit. The nicotine and tar, as well as many other chemicals found in cigarettes, negatively affects the lungs. Cigarette smoking decreases lung function and may even lead to cancer of the lungs, esophagus, tongue, mouth.

Does Smoking Cigarettes Cause Mesothelioma?

Cigarettes do not cause mesothelioma as the cancer is almost always caused by an asbestos exposure. There is a well known-link between asbestos and lung cancer as well as cigarettes and lung cancer. Often if you have develop lung cancer, have smoked, and also had an asbestos exposure, your doctor will probably tell you both were contributing factors. Both smoking cigarettes and mesothelioma decrease the functioning of the lungs. Although smoking cigarettes does not cause mesothelioma it does have a multiplying affect on the risk of getting cancer from asbestos. This effect is similar to the mixing of sleeping pills and alcohol-meaning they are both potentially deadly combinations.

Asbestos in Cigarettes

Mesothelioma is not caused by directly smoking cigarettes unless asbestos was used in the manufacturing of the cigarette. This was reportedly the case with Kent cigarettes. Many people who developed mesothelioma were current smokers or had smoked. This lead researchers to question the correlation. What they found was that in the 1950s the P. Lorillard Company was using deadly crocidolite fibers in its Kent brand of cigarettes. Crocidolite fiber is known to cause cancer more effectively than any other asbestos type. The United States Government declared that if a pack of Kent brand cigarettes were smoked a day between 1952 and 1966 then that individual may be exposed to as much as 131 million crocidolite structures in a single year. The Kent cigarettes used asbestos in the cigarette filters because of its strong resistance to heat. The paper would burn slower making the cigarette last longer, often used in their advertising. Asbestos were also used in loose leaf tobacco in pipe smoking for the same reason.

Why Smoking Cigarettes and Mesothelioma Do Not Mix

Individuals who smoke cigarettes may have a decrease in their lung function. If that individual also has an asbestos-related disease—such as mesothelioma—their lung function is further decreased. Simply put, smoking further complicates and often accelerates the devastating effect of mesothelioma. Smoking cigarettes also may increase the risk of getting mesothelioma from an asbestos exposure.

If you have had an asbestos exposure or have already been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma, this may just be the excuse you’ve been looking for. You’ve known for a while that is was time to quit, this could be that proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

 

Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells. Lung cancer, the most common cause of cancer-related death in men and the second most common in women,[1][2] is responsible for 1.3 million deaths worldwide annually.



What causes lung cancer?



Smoking



The incidence of lung cancer is strongly correlated with cigarette smoking, with about 90% of lung cancers arising as a result of tobacco use. The risk of lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked over time; doctors refer to this risk in terms of pack-years of smoking history (the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day multiplied by the number of years smoked).



Lung cancer most commonly begins in the cells that line your lungs. Smoking causes the majority of lung cancers — both in smokers and in people exposed to secondhand smoke. But lung cancer also occurs in people who never smoked. In these cases, there may be no clear cause of lung cancer. Doctors have identified factors that may increase the risk.



Cancer that originates from lung cells is called a primary lung cancer. Primary lung cancer can start in the airways that branch off the trachea to supply the lungs (the bronchi) or in the small air sacs of the lung (the alveoli). Cancer may also spread (metastasize) to the lung from other parts of the body (most commonly from the breasts, colon, prostate, kidneys, thyroid gland, stomach, cervix, rectum, testes, bone, or skin).



Lung Cancer Symptoms



Lung cancer symptoms are commonly not experienced until the disease had advanced, sometimes delaying diagnosis. The symptoms of lung cancer also mimic the symptoms of other benign illnesses.



The most common lung cancer symptoms experienced are :



Onset of wheezing



Recurrent pneumonia or bronchitis



A persistent cough that does not go away



A sign is also an indication that something is not right in the body. But signs are defined as things that can be seen by a doctor, nurse, or other health care professional. Fever, rapid breathing rate, and abnormal breathing sounds heard through a stethoscope may be signs of pneumonia.



Lung Cancer Diagnosis



To help find the cause of symptoms, your doctor will evaluate your medical history, smoking history, exposure to environmental and occupational substances, and family history of cancer. Your doctor also will perform a physical exam and may recommend a chest X-ray and other tests. If lung cancer is suspected, sputum cytology — the microscopic examination of cells obtained from a deep-cough sample of mucus in the lungs — is a simple test that may be useful in detecting lung cancer. To confirm the presence of lung cancer, your doctor must examine tissue.



How can I prevent lung cancer?



The best way to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking, or to never start in the first place. You should try and avoid being around people who are smoking; and also avoid pipes, cigars, and marijuana. If you live in an area with radon, you should make sure there is adequate ventilation in your basement to get rid of it. Use a detector to make sure the radon levels are low.



Treatment Of Lung Cancer



Many factors must be taken into account to determine the best treatment for an individual diagnosed with lung cancer. The specific type of cell, the location of the lung tumor, the stage of the disease with possible metastasis (spread to other parts of the body), and the general health of the individual must be considered. Various treatment plans may include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and/or surgery.

With all of the information about asbestos that has been circulating within the past few decades, many people have been led to believe that this substance has been banned outright by the United States government. Unfortunately, even though it has been proven to lead directly to deadly diseases, such as the rare and aggressive cancer called mesothelioma, asbestos is still found in a wide range of products in the United States and around the world, and the Environmental Protection Agency has never issued a general ban on the use of asbestos.Sixty countries worldwide have banned the use of asbestos, either in whole or in part. Beginning in the early 1970s, and continuing until the early 1990s, both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have issued standards regulating the permissible levels of asbestos exposure in the workplace. Yet the material was one of the first hazardous air pollutants to be regulated under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act of 1970, which is also known as the NESHAP, or National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. A number of applications of asbestos have also been forbidden by the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well. Most developed nations also regulate or ban both the mining and importation of raw asbestos material.  Nevertheless, most of these regulations and standards do not address the fact that asbestos remains in a number of existing structures and products. Although there is a general consensus that asbestos most likely remains safe when it is intact, it does have a tendency to become “friable,” or easily broken or damaged, as it ages. When this occurs, even a slight impact—such as being struck by a tennis ball or a human hand—can release the microscopic asbestos fibers into the surrounding air, where they can be breathed in. What exactly is asbestos? A naturally occurring durable mineral with long, thin fibrous crystals, asbestos is found in some rock formations and is also mined in open pits. Most of the asbestos used in the United States has been brought in from Canada. Asbestos has a number of extremely useful properties, which have been recognized—and prized—for centuries. It is not only extremely lightweight, durable and flexible, but it can also withstand heat, flame, electrical conductivity, corrosion, and other biological and chemical processes. Moreover, it can be mixed with building materials such as cement, concrete, metals and plastics, and can even be woven into cloth or spun into yarn. It versatility and abundance made it a valuable product in the construction, milling, shipbuilding and commercial products industries, especially throughout the twentieth century.Asbestos is made up of long, thin fibers, some of which are soft and curly, others of which are thin, needle-like and sharp. The first category of fibers are more easily expelled from the body, but the needle-like fibers, which help provide the durability and strength for which asbestos is valued, can become embedded in the body’s soft tissues and remain there for years. Once inhaled, these fibers tend to target the mesothelium, which is a protective lining, composed of both inner and outer layers, that surround the body’s internal organs and line the thoracic and abdominal cavities. The mesothelial cells in these layers produce a type of lubricating liquid that is released in between the two layers. This liquid allows organs that move and expand, such as the lungs when a breath is taken, to do so easily and without causing friction when they contact other organs, such as the heart. Mesothelioma is a cancer of these mesothelial cells, usually located around the lungs, in which cells become abnormal and divide uncontrollably. They may then begin to spread and cause damage to the nearby organs, and eventually the lymph system.It’s estimated that 90 percent of all mesothelioma cases can be directly traced back to asbestos exposure, and that the remaining 10 percent, although there is no direct link, are most likely also due to asbestos inhalation. Although there is no level of exposure which is considered safe, most experts agree that prolonged or repeated exposure, which increases the amount of asbestos particulate accumulating in the body, is more likely to lead to asbestos diseases such as mesothelioma cancer and asbestosis. It’s even possible to transmit the fibers from one person to another, since they can become trapped in fabrics such as clothing. This means that even those who had no direct contact to the material, but merely shared a home with an asbestos worker, may nevertheless be at risk for contracting this devastating disease.After the diagnosis of this cancer, the patient will work with an oncologist to determine the proper treatment steps to take. Some of the more standard types of treatment include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. There are also other treatments available such as clinical trials, which may include natural supplements, and alternative therapies such as acupuncture, hypnosis and massage. Because of delays in diagnosing this cancer, some patients can only be given options to help control the pain and keep them as comfortable as possible.Unfortunately, asbestos remains a danger in the United States and around the world. This once-ubiquitous building material is in countless homes, office buildings, schools, hospitals, factories and other locations. It may also exist in numerous consumer products in those homes, as well as in cars and ships. Every day, new reports come out about asbestos posing a hazard. If you or someone you love has worked in a trade where asbestos may have been widely used, or if you have had any known contact with an asbestos-containing consumer product, it’s important to make your health care provider aware of this fact, and closely monitor your own health. Some of the symptoms of mesothelioma include such non-specific issues such as coughing, persistent or bloody cough, back or chest pain, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, fatigue, and unexplained weight loss. If you have a history of asbestos exposure and any of these symptoms, see your doctor immediately. Like many cancers, mesothelioma can be treated if it is caught early enough.