Lung Cancer in Kenya: 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.
Symptoms
Lung cancer typically doesn’t cause signs and symptoms in its earliest stages. Signs and symptoms of lung cancer typically occur only when the disease is advanced.
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Signs and symptoms of lung cancer may include:
- A new cough that doesn’t go away
- Changes in a chronic cough or “smoker’s cough”
- Coughing up blood, even a small amount
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Wheezing
- Hoarseness
- Losing weight without trying
- Bone pain
- Headache
Causes
Smoking causes the majority of lung cancers — both in smokers and in people exposed to secondhand smoke. But lung cancer also occurs in people who never smoked and in those who never had prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke. In these cases, there may be no clear cause of lung cancer.
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Lung Cancer in Kenya: Risk factors
Risk factors for lung cancer include:
- Smoking. Your risk of lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes you smoke each day and the number of years you have smoked. Quitting at any age can significantly lower your risk of developing lung cancer.
- Exposure to secondhand smoke. Even if you don’t smoke, your risk of lung cancer increases if you’re exposed to secondhand smoke.
- Exposure to radon gas. Radon is produced by the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water that eventually becomes part of the air you breathe. Unsafe levels of radon can accumulate in any building, including homes.
Exposure to asbestos and other carcinogens. Workplace exposure to asbestos and other substances known to cause cancer — such as arsenic, chromium and nickel — also can increase your risk of developing lung cancer, especially if you’re a smoker.
- Family history of lung cancer. People with a parent, sibling or child with lung cancer have an increased risk of the disease.
Complications
Lung cancer can cause complications, such as:
- Shortness of breath. People with lung cancer can experience shortness of breath if cancer grows to block the major airways. Lung cancer can also cause fluid to accumulate around the lungs, making it harder for the affected lung to expand fully when you inhale.
- Coughing up blood. Lung cancer can cause bleeding in the airway, which can cause you to cough up blood (hemoptysis). Sometimes bleeding can become severe. Treatments are available to control bleeding.
- Pain. Advanced lung cancer that spreads to the lining of a lung or to another area of the body, such as a bone, can cause pain.
Tell your doctor if you experience pain. Pain may initially be mild and intermittent, but can become constant. Medications, radiation therapy and other treatments may help make you more comfortable.
- Fluid in the chest (pleural effusion). Lung cancer can cause fluid to accumulate in the space that surrounds the affected lung in the chest cavity (pleural space).Fluid accumulating in the chest can cause shortness of breath. Treatments are available to drain the fluid from your chest and reduce the risk that pleural effusion will occur again.
- Cancer that spreads to other parts of the body (metastasis). Lung cancer often spreads (metastasizes) to other parts of the body, such as the brain and the bones.Cancer that spreads can cause pain, nausea, headaches, or other signs and symptoms depending on what organ is affected. Once lung cancer has spread to other organs, it’s generally not curable. Treatments are available to decrease signs and symptoms and to help you live longer.
Lung Cancer in Kenya: Stages of lung cancer
- Stage I. Cancer is limited to the lung and hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes. The tumor is generally smaller than 2 inches (5 centimeters) across.
- Stage II. The tumor at this stage may have grown larger than 2 inches, or it may be a smaller tumor that involves nearby structures, such as the chest wall, the diaphragm or the lining around the lungs (pleura). Cancer may also have spread to the nearby lymph nodes.
- Stage III. The tumor at this stage may have grown very large and invaded other organs near the lungs. Or this stage may indicate a smaller tumor accompanied by cancer cells in lymph nodes farther away from the lungs.
- Stage IV. Cancer has spread beyond the affected lung to the other lung or to distant areas of the body.
Treatments and drugs
Surgery
During surgery your surgeon works to remove the lung cancer and a margin of healthy tissue. Procedures to remove lung cancer include:
- Wedge resection to remove a small section of lung that contains the tumor along with a margin of healthy tissue
- Segmental resection to remove a larger portion of lung, but not an entire lobe
- Lobectomy to remove the entire lobe of one lung
- Pneumonectomy to remove an entire lung
If you undergo surgery, your surgeon may also remove lymph nodes from your chest in order to check them for signs of cancer.
Lung cancer surgery carries risks, including bleeding and infection. Expect to feel short of breath after lung surgery. If a portion of your lung is removed, your remaining lung tissue will expand over time and make it easier to breathe. Your doctor may recommend a respiratory therapist who can guide you through breathing exercises to aid in your recovery.
Lung Cancer in Kenya: Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. One or more chemotherapy drugs may be given through a vein in your arm (intravenously) or taken orally. A combination of drugs usually is given in a series of treatments over a period of weeks or months, with breaks in between so that you can recover.
Chemotherapy is often used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain. It may also be used before surgery to shrink cancers and make them easier to remove. In some cases, chemotherapy can be used to relieve pain and other symptoms of advanced cancer.
Lung Cancer in Kenya: Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams from sources such as X-rays and protons to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be directed at your lung cancer from outside your body (external beam radiation) or it can be put inside needles, seeds or catheters and placed inside your body near the cancer (brachytherapy).
Radiation therapy can be used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain. It may also be used as the first treatment for lung cancers that can’t be removed during surgery. For people with advanced lung cancer, radiation therapy may be used to relieve pain and other symptoms.
For people with lung cancers that are very small, one option may be stereotactic body radiotherapy. This form of radiation aims many beams of radiation from different angles at the lung cancer. Stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment is typically completed in one or a few treatments. In certain cases, it may be used in place of surgery for small tumors.
Targeted drug therapy
Targeted therapies are newer cancer treatments that work by targeting specific abnormalities in cancer cells. Targeted therapy drugs are often used in combination with chemotherapy drugs.
Targeted therapy options for treating lung cancer include:
- Afatinib (Gilotrif)
- Bevacizumab (Avastin)
- Ceritinib (Zykadia)
- Crizotinib (Xalkori)
- Erlotinib (Tarceva)
- Nivolumab (Opdivo)
- Ramucirumab (Cyramza)
Some targeted therapies only work in people whose cancer cells have certain genetic mutations. Your cancer cells will be tested in a laboratory to see if these drugs might help you.
