What is non small cell Lung cancer?

Question

patho condition?

Answer 1

Small cell lung cancer accounts for about a 20% of all lung cancer cases. Also called oat cell carcinoma of the lung, it has the most rapid clinical course of any type of lung cancer, with average survival time of only several months without treatment. Compared with other types of lung cancer, small cell carcinoma has a greater tendency to have spread widely by the time of diagnosis and the majority of diagnosed patients also have metastases (spread of tumor to other organs/sites).

Because of its rapid growth, it tends to be more responsive to treatment with chemotherapy and radiation than are the other types of lung cancer

Answer 2

NON-small cell cancer is either squamous cell carcinoma, or adenocarcinoma, or some hybrid between the two. So named because the cells are larger, and they behave differently in the body. Likewise, they behave differently to chemotherapy regimens, and doctors have an algorithm that they follow for NON small cell as vs small cell.

By not having the terms peripheral or alveolar in the diagnosis, the most likely place for this to have arisen would be in the bronchi in a smoker.

If caught early enough, they may elect to surgically resect the tumor, followed by chemo or radiation or both.

Answer 3

I think the non small cell is the worst kind. That's what my mom had and she died. It was already a stage 3 when they found it.

Answer 4

Lung cancer affects approximately 170,000 Americans each year. While cigarette smoking is the main cause, anyone can develop lung cancer. Lung cancer is always treatable, no matter the size, location, or if the cancer has spread.

The lungs absorb oxygen from the air and bring the oxygen into the bloodstream for delivery to the rest of the body. As the body's cells use oxygen, they release carbon dioxide. The bloodstream carries carbon dioxide back to the lungs and the carbon dioxide leaves the body when people exhale. The lungs contain many different types of cells. Most cells in the lung are epithelial cells. Epithelial cells line the airways and produce mucus, which lubricates and protects the lung. The lung also contains nerve cells, hormone-producing cells, blood cells, and structural or supporting cells.

There are two major types of lung cancer: non-small cell and small cell. Non-small cell lung cancer (the most common) is believed to arise from epithelial cells. Small cell lung cancer is believed to arise from nerve cells or hormone-producing cells. The term "small cell" refers to the size and shape of the cancer cells seen under the microscope. It is important for doctors to distinguish non-small cell from small cell lung cancer because the two types of cancer are treated in different ways.

Lung cancer begins when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. A tumor is a collection of a large number of cancer cells and appears as a lump in the lung. A lung tumor can begin anywhere in the lung.

Once a lung tumor begins to grow, it may or may not shed cancer cells. These cells can be carried away in blood, or float away in the natural fluid, called lymph, that surrounds lung tissue. Lymph flows through tubes called lymphatic vessels, which drain into collecting stations called lymph nodes located in the lungs and in the center of the chest. The natural flow of lymph out of the lungs is toward the center of the chest, which explains why lung cancer often spreads toward the center of the chest. When a cancer cell leaves its site of origin, and moves into a lymph node or to a far away part of the body through the bloodstream, it is called metastasis.

The location and size of the initial lung tumor, and whether it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or distant sites, determines the stage of lung cancer. The type of lung cancer (non-small cell versus small cell) and the stage of disease determine what type of treatment is needed.

Statistics

In the United States, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women. In 2006, an estimated 174,470 people (92,700 men and 81,770 women) will be diagnosed with lung cancer. An estimated 162,460 people (90,330 men and 72,130 women) will die of the disease. For all patients with lung cancer, 42% remain alive at one year, and 15% are alive at five years.

Lung cancer represents 12% of all cancer diagnoses, and 29% of all cancer deaths among men and women. The number of deaths from the four most common cancers (lung, breast, prostate and colorectal) is declining for all but one group, women with lung cancer. Lung cancer deaths are flattening after continuously increasing for several decades. For unclear reasons, blacks have the highest incidence and death rates of lung cancer.

These statistics should not be taken as a death sentence. It is important to remember that statistics do not apply to an individual patient. No doctor can tell patients how long they will be able to live with lung cancer. Some patients who are told that their lung cancer will be cured do not live as long as patients who are told that their lung cancer is not curable. The important thing to know is that lung cancer is treatable at any stage, and that these treatments have been proven to help people live longer and better, despite a diagnosis of lung cancer.

Cancer statistics should be interpreted with caution. These estimates are based on data from thousands of cases of this type of cancer in the United States each year, but the actual risk for a particular individual may differ. It is not possible to tell a person how long he or she will live with lung cancer. Because the survival statistics are measured in five-year (or sometimes one-year) intervals, they may not represent advances made in the treatment or diagnosis of this cancer.



Please check out the website http://www.plwc.org for more info. on this subject.

Other great websites are

http://www.cancer.org
http://www.cancer.com
http://www.lungcancer.org

Bsest of luck to you! :)

Answer 5

Not the worst kind.They have made great breakthrough progress in treating this,too.