Lungs are the most important organ of our body that has the responsibility of taking in the oxygen and releasing out carbon dioxide. When cancer develops in it, the entire body gets imbalanced.
Lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the lungs. Your lungs are two spongy organs in your chest that take in oxygen when you inhale and release carbon dioxide when you exhale. Lung cancer leads to more death than any other type of cancer, which is why identifying the symptoms and knowing the causes are instrumental in obtaining a timely diagnosis as well as in the prevention of this disease.
How Lung Cancer Spreads?
Lung cancers can spread when cells break off from the tumour, and travel through the bloodstream or the lymphatics (vessels in the body through which lymph and white blood cells travel) to distant regions of the body and grow. This process is called metastasis.
Stages of Lung Cancer
- Stage 1: Cancer is found in the lung, but it has not spread outside the lung.
- Stage 2: Cancer is found in the lung and nearby lymph nodes.
- Stage 3: Cancer is in the lung and lymph nodes in the middle of the chest.
- Stage 3A: Cancer is found in lymph nodes, but only on the same side of the chest where cancer first started growing.
- Stage 3B: Cancer has spread to lymph nodes on the opposite side of the chest or to lymph nodes above the collarbone.
- Stage 4: Cancer has spread to both lungs, into the area around the lungs, or to distant organs.
Symptoms of Lung Cancer
- Persistent coughing
- Chest pain
- Bleeding
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Sudden weight loss
- Headaches
- Coughing up blood
