- "Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung."
A malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the lung tissue, and can spread to other organs in the body.
- "Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals."
- "Damaged airway cells gain the ability to multiply unchecked, causing the growth of a tumor."
- "Most people experience nonspecific respiratory problems: coughing, shortness of breath, or chest pain. Other symptoms depend on the location and size of the tumor."
- "Early lung cancer often has no symptoms and can only be detected by medical imaging."
- "Those suspected of having lung cancer typically undergo a series of imaging tests to determine the location and extent of any tumors. Definitive diagnosis of lung cancer requires a biopsy of the suspected tumor be examined by a pathologist under a microscope."
- "In addition to recognizing cancerous cells, a pathologist can classify the tumor according to the type of cells it originates from. Around 15% of cases are small-cell lung cancer, and the remaining 85% (the non-small-cell lung cancers) are adenocarcinomas, squamous-cell carcinomas, and large-cell carcinomas."
- "Treatment for early stage lung cancer includes surgery to remove the tumor, sometimes followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells."
- "Later stage cancer is treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy alongside drug treatments that target specific cancer subtypes."
- "Even with treatment, only around 20% of people survive five years on from their diagnosis."
- "Survival rates are higher in those diagnosed at an earlier stage, diagnosed at a younger age, and in women compared to men."
- "Most lung cancer cases are caused by tobacco smoking."
- "The remainder are caused by exposure to hazardous substances like asbestos and radon gas, or by genetic mutations that arise by chance."
- "Quitting smoking both reduces one's chance of developing lung cancer and improves treatment outcomes in those already diagnosed with lung cancer."
- "Lung cancer is the most diagnosed and deadliest cancer worldwide, with 2.2 million cases in 2020 resulting in 1.8 million deaths."
- "The average age at diagnosis is 70 years."
- "The average age at death is 72 years."
- "Prior to the advent of cigarette smoking in the 20th century, lung cancer was a rare disease."
- "In the 1950s and 1960s, increasing evidence linked lung cancer and tobacco use."
- "Culminating in declarations by most large national health bodies discouraging tobacco use."