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Lung Cancer: Causes and Treatment

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Lung Cancer: Causes and Treatment
The Killer Lung Cancer
When I was 14 my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, which had quickly spread to her bones, then brain. I was so lost and confused; my mother never smoked a day in her life. She was a healthy woman who ate right and exercised regularly, the doctors gave her 6 months to live, and I lost her at 16. Although, there are so many people in the world who do not smoke and develop lung cancer, there’s many ways a non-smoker can get lung cancer: environmental, second hand smoking, as well as some other natural effects that can cause a person to develop lung cancer. There are many types of lung cancers. Small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC), this classification are based upon the look of the tumor, the cells themselves (“lung Cancer”). These two types of cancers grow and spread in different ways and may have different treatment options, so a distinction between these two types is important (Genndes). SCLC makes up about 20% of lung cancers and is the most aggressive and rapidly growing of all lung cancers (“Lung Cancer”). SCLC is related to cigarette smoking, with only 1% of these tumors occurring in nonsmokers. SCLC metastasize rapidly too to-many sites within the body and are most often discovered after they have spread widely (“Lung cancer”). Referring to a specific cell appearance often seen when examining samples of SCLC under the microscope, these cancers are sometimes called oat cell carcinomas (“lung Cancer”). NSCLC are the most common lung cancers, it’s a cause for about 80% of all lung cancers. NSCLC can be divided into three main types that are named based upon the type of cells found in the tumor: Adenocarcinomas-(a malignant tumor with cells arranged in patterns similar to those of a gland) are the most commonly seen type of NSCLC in the U.S (“Lung Cancer”). They cover up to 50% of NSCLC. While adenocarcinomas are associated with smoking, like other lung cancers, this type is seen as well in

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