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Diagnosing Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the primary cause of cancer related death among men and is the
second major cancer related death in women. Even with treatment the survival
rate after five years is only about 14%.
There are essentially two different types of lung cancers:
Small cell lung carcinoma
non-small cell lung carcinoma
The difference in the two cancers is important since it influences the type of
treatment that a patient must undergo. Small cell lung carcinoma is usually
treated with chemotherapy while non-small cell carcinomas are treated via
surgery.
The causes of lung cancer vary but it is common knowledge today that smoking is
the biggest single cause, accounting for bout 90% of the cases.
Symptoms
The common signs of lung cancer are shortness of breath, weight loss and
coughing - which may or may not contain blood.
Diagnosis
Lung cancer is usually detected on a chest x-ray and using computed tomography
(also known as a CT scan). Suspected growths are removed using a bronchoscope
and then tested (biopsy).
Treatment
As previously indicated treatment depends on the type of carcinoma. The doctor
will also take into account the stage of the cancer as well as the patient's
well being. The later criteria is known in medicine as "performance status" and
is measured using any one of a number of scoring systems..
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