Major Causes Of Lung Cancer And How To Prevent Them
Major Causes Of Lung Cancer And How To Prevent Them: Lung cancer is one of the most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Though smoking has been implicated in causing lung cancer, studies have shown that lung cancer can affect non-smokers as much as smokers.
Surgical resection, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the mainstream treatments but recently Immunotherapy has been introduced and it has been shown that immune treatments could be key in the fight against lung cancer.
Causes of Lung Cancer
Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer in both smokers and non-smokers. Inhalation of cigarette smoke damages the lining of the lungs, with changes in the lung tissue beginning almost immediately. Repeated exposure to the same carcinogens eventually leads to abnormal development of lung cells and ultimately to lung cancer.
Besides smoking, exposure to radon gas, workplace exposure to asbestos and arsenic and a positive family history are all risk factors for developing lung cancer.
Prevention of Lung Cancer
There is no definite way of preventing cancer but you can surely reduce your risk by following the guidelines given below.
- Don’t smoke and if you smoke on a regular basis, quit now.
- Avoid second-hand smoke by avoiding places where people smoke.
- Get your home tested for radon levels.
- Always take precautions as far as exposure to toxic chemicals at workplace is concerned.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Exercise regularly and stick to a diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables.
Treatment of Lung Cancer
- Surgery
Depending on the extent of cancer and metastasis, a surgical route may be taken to remove the affected lung tissue and preserve as much as healthy lung tissue as possible.
- Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy
For patients with locally advanced lung cancer, a combination of radiation with chemotherapy is generally used.
- Immunotherapy
Immune treatments could be key in the fight against lung cancer. The basic principle of this therapy is to use the body’s own immune system to attack the cancer cells. These clever cancer cells use a molecular cloak to hide from the body’s immune cells. The drugs used in immunotherapy rip off this cloak and expose the cancer cells to the body’s immune cells which ultimately leads to destruction of these cancer cells.
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