Stage 4 Lung Cancer Symptoms And Signs

Lung cancer symptoms consist of a change in the coughing pattern, for example, by a stubborn cervical cough, and sometimes the cough of a cough has a dash of blood. Other symptoms of lung cancer may include shortness of breath, pneumonia that always recovers, persistent hoarseness and a sore pain in the chest region, back or around the shoulders.

In men, lung cancer is the most common form of cancer, followed by prostate cancer. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. What are the causes and lung cancer symptoms and how can lung cancer be treated?

The lung cancer symptoms and signs

Up to a fourth of all lung cancer patients have no symptoms at the time the cancer is diagnosed. In such cases, the tumor is often found by chance, although after a few cases there are some vague general symptoms, such as not feeling completely fit and feeling good, reduced appetite and sometimes some slimming (weight loss). The symptoms of lung cancer can vary widely, depending on the place and size of the tumor and possible soreness (metastases). Lung cancer usually spreads to the liver, the adrenal glands, the bones and the brain.

Symptoms of primary lung cancer are coughs, a changed cough pattern, coughing of blood, chest pain (chest pain), recurrent respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and ( an increase of) shortness of breath. In the case of sowing, there may be pain elsewhere in the body.

Below is a brief discussion of the symptoms:

• Any a new cough in a smoker or an ex-smoker can indicate lung cancer.
• A cough that does not disappear or becomes worse after a period of time must be submitted to the general practitioner.
• Coughing up blood (hemoptysis or bloodshed) occurs in a significant number of people who develop lung cancer. Coughing up blood can be the result of powerful coughing and that is not worrying. However, it may also be a sign of a serious condition or disease, such as lung cancer.
• About a quarter of people with lung cancer have chest pain. The pain is dull and stubborn.
• Shortness of breath may indicate a spread of the tumor to the lungs.
• A wheezing or hoarseness may indicate inflammation of the lungs caused by cancer.
• Repeated respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis or pneumonia, can be a sign of lung cancer.

Also, special symptoms are regularly reported, such as drumstick fingers (thickening of the extremities of the fingers) and joint complaints seen in lung cancer. Fabrics produced by the tumor cause these typical symptoms.

Stage classification of lung cancer

The stage classification of lung cancer (non-small cell lung carcinoma, abbreviated NSCLC) is as follows:

• Stage I : small tumor without sowing
• Stage II : greater tumor and/or sores in the lung lymph nodes
• Stage IIIa : sores in the lymph nodes between both lungs (mediastinum), on the side of the tumor
• Stage IIIb : sores in the lymph nodes between both lungs (mediastinum), on the other side than the tumor or above the clavicle (supraclavicular)
• Stage IV : metastases in other organs

The main cause of lung cancer: smoking cigarettes

The cigarette smoking is the main cause of a lung tumor. About 90% of lung cancer results from the use of tobacco. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4000 chemicals, many of which have been identified as causing cancer. A person who smokes more than one cigarette packet per day has a 20 to 25-fold greater risk of developing lung cancer than someone who has never touched a cigarette. The risk of getting lung cancer for a person who smokes two packets of cigarettes for 20 years is even 60 to 70 times as high as for someone who has never smoked. When a person quits smoking, the risk of lung cancer gradually decreases. About 15 years after printing the last cigarette, the risk of lung cancer drops to the level of someone who has never smoked.

Other causes of lung cancer

Other causes of lung cancer are:

• passive smoking or smoking;
• Air pollution from motor vehicles, factories, and other sources is likely to increase the risk of lung cancer;
• exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer by factor nine;
• lung diseases, such as tuberculosis (TBC) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ), also increase the risk of lung cancer;
• exposure to radon (a radioactive noble gas that can not be seen, smelled or tasted and released from building materials and from the soil) constitutes another risk.
• Certain occupations exposed to arsenic, chromium, nickel, aromatic hydrocarbons and others for a long time may increase the risk of lung cancer.
• A person who has suffered from lung cancer is more likely to get lung cancer for the second time than the average person has the opportunity to get lung cancer for the first time.

Treatment of lung cancer

The treatment used depends on the place and size of the tumor, possible saturation and condition of the patient. The treatment options for lung cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation (radiotherapy).

In an operation, the tumor is removed with the surrounding lung tissue. In radiotherapy, the tumor and the adjacent lymph nodes are irradiated either to try to cure (curative) or to reduce the complaints (palliative). Chemotherapy is in treatment with anticancer drugs. This can be used when the disease already has saddles (palliative) or in combination with other treatment modalities such as:

• Chemotherapy followed by surgery;
• Chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy; or
• Surgery followed by radiotherapy.

Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a treatment that stimulates a response to cancerous cells. This treatment enhances or changes your own immune system so that it can better eliminate the cancer cells. The treatment does not work directly on the tumor, such as chemotherapy, but focuses on the immune system itself.

Since 2015, a new drug has been obtained for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, a so-called PD-1 inhibitor (Nivolumab). Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who do not respond well to chemotherapy are eligible for this new drug. PD-1 is a protein on the outside of a T-cell. T cells are important in our immune system. If the PD-L1 or PD-L2 protein binds to PD-1, then a T-cell becomes inactive.

Certain types of cancer cells are equipped with the PD-L1 protein on the outside. T cells that bind to this become inactive. As a result, the immune system does not attack the cancer cells. The new drug blocks PD-L1 binding to PD-1, leaving the T-cells active.

Survival chances of lung cancer

Generally - including all types and stages of lung cancer - a 5-year survival rate of approximately 13% applies. For five-year relative survival in non-small cell and small cell lung carcinoma.

*Image source : vimeo

References :

1. NCI
2. Mayoclinic
3. American Cancer Society