Lung Cancer
Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer. It is a fact that non-smokers can also get lung cancer. The risk is about 10 times greater for smokers and is also increased by the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
If you are a heavy smoker consuming more than 20 cigarettes a day, the risk of developing lung cancer is about 30 to 40 times higher than if you don't smoke.
The main reason for the substantial increase in the disease over the last 50 years has been the increase in the number of people who smoke cigarettes. Most lung cancers are diagnosed too late for curative treatment to be possible. In over half of people with lung cancer the disease has already spread at the time of diagnosis.
The symptoms of lung cancer include:
- a chronic cough.
- worsening breathlessness.
- weight loss.
- excessive fatigue.
- persistent pain in the chest or elsewhere
Surgery can cure lung cancer, but only one in five patients are suitable for this treatment. If the tumour has not spread outside the chest and does not involve vital structures such as the liver, then surgical removal may be possible, but only if the patient does not also have severe bronchitis, heart disease or other illnesses.
About 10 per cent of patients can expect to be 'cured' - that is alive five years after diagnosis with no evidence of the cancer having returned.