Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer Information for:

Practitioners

Program Managers and Coalition Members

The Community

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Lung cancers are cancers that begin in the lungs. Other types of cancers may spread to the lungs from other organs. However, these are not lung cancers because they did not start in the lungs. When cancer cells spread from one organ to another, they are called metastases.

Research has found several risk factors for lung cancer. A "risk factor" is anything that changes risk of getting a disease. Different risk factors change risk by different amounts.

The risk factors for lung cancer include:

• smoking and being around others' smoke
• things around us at home or work (such as radon gas)
• personal traits (such as having a family history of lung cancer

How To Quit Smoking?

Quitting is important for anyone who smokes tobacco - even people who have smoked for many years. For people who already have cancer, quitting may reduce the chance of getting another cancer. Quitting also can help cancer treatments work better.

There are many ways to get help:

Ask your doctor about medicine or nicotine replacement therapy, such as a patch, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, or inhaler. Your doctor can suggest a number of treatments that help people quit.

Ask your doctor to help you find local programs or trained professionals who help people stop using tobacco.

• Call staff at NCI's Smoking Quitline (1-877-44U-QUIT) or instant message them through LiveHelp.

They can tell you about:

• ways to quit smoking
• groups that help smokers who want to quit
• NCI publications about quitting smoking
• how to take part in a study of methods to help smokers quit

Go online to Smokefree.gov (http://www.smokefree.gov), a Federal Government Web site. It offers a guide to quitting smoking and a list of other resources.

• The Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control

Resources

MedlinePlus - Lung Cancer - MedlinePlus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news.

• Visit MedlinePlus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• More details, including medically graphic images, can be found at the CDC website
• To visit CDC's Lung Cancer "Fast Facts" webpage, please click here.
• To visit CDC's Screening for Lung Cancer webpage, please click here.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of eight agencies that compose the Public Health Service (PHS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

The National Cancer Institute coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

NCI publishes a wealth of information about cancer on the Web. To make it easier for you we have provided direct lung cancer links from NCI below.

• To visit NCI's Lung Cancer webpage, please click here.

"What You Need To Know About™ Lung Cancer"

NCI's booklet about lung cancer. NCI 2006, 51 pages.

• Download the PDF file: (pdf 1.6 MB).

ASCO Answers: Lung Cancer

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 2008. 2 pages.

ASCO Answers is a series of fact sheets that provides an introduction to a specific type of cancer. Each fact sheet is a PDF that includes an overview of what the cancer is, an illustration of where the cancer starts, how it is treated, terms to know, and questions to ask the doctor.

• Download the PDF file: (pdf 280 KB)

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

• To view the ACS Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer information, please click here.
• To view the ACS Small Cell Lung Cancer information, please click here.

Mesothelioma Prognosis

Mesothelioma is a deadly disease that afflicts 3,000 people each year and that number is expected to grow in conjunction with the widespread use of asbestos throughout the last century. If you or a loved one is dealing with mesothelioma, your prognosis doesn't have to be impossible.

Although there are hundreds of types of cancer, mesothelioma is a fairly rare type of cancer affecting the lungs. Only around three percent of cancer patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma. While it is typically related to the lungs and the lining of the lungs, this deadly disease can also affect the heart and abdomen. Men are four times more likely to receive a diagnosis of mesothelioma, most likely due to factors leading to the development of the disease.

Source: http://www.mesotheliomaprognosis.org/

• To visit the Mesothelioma Prognosis website, please click here.

Traditional Medicine - In many cultures traditional medicine plays an important role in treating the sick or addressing disease. Traditional medicine, and its practice and philosophical and cultural manifestations differ greatly from culture to culture. There is not one size fits all explanation for traditional medicine. In many Pacific cultures traditional medicine play a vital role in a communities health care, but it is ultimately up to the individual to seek help from traditional healers or not.

In the past decade the term ‘integrative medicine’ has become more common, where both Traditional and Western medical concepts can work hand in hand, focusing on what is best for the patient. Many people may seek the advise from the traditional healers in their culture, but my be reluctant to disclose this to their Western doctor. Traditional medicine can be very beneficial for many ailments, although cancer is such a complex disease that using traditional medicine alone might not be the best available treatment option. Traditional medicine has been very successful in treating e.g. nausea or rashes that often go along with many cancer treatments and western medicine might provide little relieve.

If you chose to consult a traditional healer please try to discuss this with your doctor or contact your cancer coordinator to find out what treatment options are available on your island.

• Find out more about CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).