Is lung cancer preventable?
Did you know that lung cancer kills more people in the U.S. than any other cancer? This deadly disease will be diagnosed in 172,570 men and women this year alone. Lung cancer can be cured if it is caught early. The key to protecting your health is to know who's at risk for the disease and how to spot its early symptoms.

What's your risk?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that smoking cigarettes is the primary risk factor for the disease. Other risk factors include:

• Regular use of cigars and pipes - even if not inhaled
• Secondhand smoke
• Family history of the disease
• Exposure to asbestos or radon gas
• Age - the average age of people diagnosed with lung cancer is 70

What can you do?
Talk to your doctor right away if you experience any of these symptoms and their cause is unexplained:

• A persistent cough
• Hoarseness
• Chest pain
• Loss of appetite or weight
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Unexplained fever
• Bloody spit or phlegm
• Recurring bronchitis and pneumonia

Basic Information
Lung cancers are cancers that begin in the lungs. Other types of cancers may spread to the lungs from other organs. However, these are not lung cancers because they did not start in the lungs. When cancer cells spread from one organ to another, they are called metastases.

Research has found several risk factors for lung cancer. A "risk factor" is anything that changes risk of getting a disease. Different risk factors change risk by different amounts.

The risk factors for lung cancer include the following:

• smoking and being around others' smoke
• things around us at home or work (such as radon gas)
• personal traits (such as having a family history of lung cancer)

Symptoms
Different people have different symptoms for lung cancer. Some people don't have any symptoms at all. About 25% of people with lung cancer do not have symptoms from advanced cancer when their lung cancer is found. Lung cancer symptoms may include

• shortness of breath
• coughing that doesn't go away
• wheezing
• coughing up blood
• chest pain
• fever
• weight loss

Other changes that can sometimes occur with lung cancer may include repeated bouts of pneumonia, changes in the shape of the fingertips, and swollen or enlarged lymph nodes (glands) in the upper chest and lower neck.

These symptoms can happen with other illnesses, too. People with symptoms should talk to their doctor, especially if they smoke, but even if they don't. Doctors can help find the cause.

Fast Facts
Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, lung cancer is

• the second most common cancer for all men in the United States
• the second most common cancer among white and American Indian Alaska Native women
• the third most common cancer among black, Asian/Pacific Islander and
  Hispanic women

In 2002 (the most recent year for which statistics are currently available):

• 100,099 men and 80,163 women were diagnosed with lung cancer*
• 90,121 men and 67,509 women died from lung cancer*
• For more information about lung cancer rates, visit Statistics.

*Incidence counts cover approximately 93% of the US population; death counts cover 100% of the US population. Use caution in comparing incidence and death counts.

Diagnosis and Treatment
A person’s lung cancer diagnosis depends on the type of lung cancer present. The two main types of lung cancer are small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer is more common than small cell lung cancer. These categories refer to what the cancer cells look like under a microscope.

The extent of disease is referred to as the stage. Information about how big a cancer is or how far it has spread is often used to determine the stage. Doctors use information about stage to plan treatment and to monitor progress.

Sources: CDC

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