In the Know: Lung cancer

MANILA, Philippines–Lung cancer may manifest itself through signs and symptoms such as cough, chest pain, coughing out of blood, chest infection, malaise, poor appetite and weight loss, shortness of breath, drowsiness, clubbing of the fingers (thickening of the fingertips with typical nail changes) and bone pain, according to the Lung Center of the Philippines.

But these symptoms may not show at the early stage and may appear when the tumor has grown.

There are four types of cancer—squamous cell cancer, adenocarcinoma, large cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma—that can develop in the lungs.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer’s defining feature is the rapid creation of abnormal cells that grow beyond their usual boundaries and can then invade adjacent body parts and spread to other organs.

Cancers are the leading causes of death around the world, with most cancer deaths every year including those of the lung, liver, stomach, colorectal and breast, the WHO said.

About 71 percent of lung cancer deaths worldwide are caused by tobacco use, it added.

The common cancer deaths in the Philippines are cancers of the lung, breast, cervix, liver, colon and rectum, prostate, stomach, oral cavity, ovary and leukemia, the Department of Health said in a statement in August 2012.

Survival rate of cancer cases in the Philippines is also low, it added.–Inquirer Research

Sources: lcp.gov.ph, doh.gov.ph, who.int