Synonyms
Lung-Ca, lung carcinoma, bronchial carcinoma, small cell bronchial carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell bronchial carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, pancost tumor, NSCLC : Non small cell lung cancer, SCLC: Small cell lung cancer, oat cell cancer
Definition
Lung cancer is a malignant mass in the lungs, originating in the tissue of the bronchi. Different types of lung cancer (bronchial carcinoma) are distinguished. The classification is based on the cell types of which the tumor consists or develops.
The different types differ in frequency, treatment options and prognosis. Frequencies:
- Squamous cell carcinoma 40-50
- Small cell bronchial carcinoma 25-30
- Large cell bronchial carcinoma 5-10
- Adenocarcinoma 10-15%
The different treatment options and prognoses are explained under Therapy and Prognosis. The overall cure rate for bronchial carcinoma is still very poor, with a five-year survival rate of less than ten percent.
Epidemiology
Bronchial carcinoma, which was a rarity before the 20th century, is one of the most common types of tumor in humans today. For men in Germany, bronchial carcinoma is by far the most frequent cause of tumor death with a share of 27%. In women, this entity is currently even rarer than malignant breast or colon tumors (see breast cancer–colon cancer) with shares of 10 %, but in the USA it is already number one.
The steadily increasing frequency of lung cancer diagnosis in women is associated with the increasing number of female smokers. The average age of the disease is between 55 and 65 years, 5% of patients are younger than 40 years at diagnosis. First symptoms are frequent: it is generally said that there are no early symptoms for bronchial carcinoma.
This means that the first symptoms, such as coughing or breathing difficulties, also occur, for example, with a normal cold, and are therefore very unspecific. The bronchial carcinoma (lung cancer) is therefore usually diagnosed at a very advanced stage; the prognosis worsens accordingly.
- Chronic cough,
- Recurring or therapy-resistant pneumonia
- Breathing difficulties/breathlessness
- Respiratory chest pain
Only when the tumor has progressed further do other, usually more specific symptoms appear: In the case of small cell lung cancer, paraneoplastic syndromes are also observed.
Paraneoplastic syndrome is the term used to describe symptoms that are not triggered directly in the surrounding area by the tumor or metastases, but rather by a hormonal long-distance effect: the tumor produces substances (hormones) that trigger reactions in other parts of the body. This can lead to etc. A special form of bronchial carcinoma – the so-called Pancost tumor – can also lead to Horner’s syndrome and swelling of the arm.
- Hoarseness
- Coughing with bloody sputum
- Pulmonary Edema
- Horner syndrome (symptom triad of drooping eyelid = ptosis, constricted pupil = miosis and sunken eyes = enophthalmos)
- Rapid weight loss
- Fever
- An elevated level of calcium in the blood (hypercalcaemia)
- A Cushing’s syndrome
- Muscle weakness of the extremities