Lung cancer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Lung cancer - Research Paper ExampleIn the United States, some 203,536 people are embed to suffer from the illness regardless of sex with death of over 157, 000 victims in 2010 (www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung). Other countries have showed the same trend. In Europe, many countries showed high rate of deaths with Hungary in the guide list having deaths that reached over a hundred victims a day. In Canada, lung cancer accounts for 30% death with cases of women on the rise. Far East Asia is non spared from the disease. Philippines alone have 43 daily cases of deaths. Taiwan and Japan partake in the same sentiment regarding the disease. China also has continual increase in numbers who die from the disease (Pastorino, 102). This scenario provides a picture that lung cancer is prevalent worldwide regardless of sex. Limiting the incidences of the lung cancer involves understanding the pathophysiology, causes, signs and symptoms, and diagnosing to be able to treat the disease at an earlier stage and to prevent high preponderance of its occurrences. Pathophysiology The normal lung cell consist of two layers namely the columnar cells and basal cells. The columnar that contains mucus and cover with cilia makes up the surface layer. Basal cell which is the second layer contains the nuclei and basement membrane which in shepherds crook composes the glands, blood, blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The initial response to a carcinogenic agent occurs in the tracheobronchial epithelium within the basal cells. Number of cells increase as it is triggered with the inhalation of any carcinogenic agents and referred to as carcinomas. This happens because oncogenes which make the embody susceptible to cancer are activated. When a carcinogen enters the body, it binds with the DNA of the lung cells causing changes and differentiation of the cell. The structures of the cells are damaged which may cause abnormal growth. As the cell division continues to occur, the damaged DNA is also passed to the daughter cells and undergoes still mutations. Cell growth becomes unstable and genetic changes accumulate. The pulmoepithelium in turn undergoes malignant transformation from normal epithelium to invasive carcinoma (Day, et al, p 558). Among the lung cancer type, adenocarcinoma is the roughly prevalent. However, when cancer cells metastasize, the tracheal and broncheal lymph nodes are the earliest to show signs of the spread to distant lymph nodes, organs, kidneys and brain. On the separate hand, broncheoalveolar type is usually slow in nature than other types. Pleural effusion results as an effect of direct involvement of the pleura, obstruction of mediastinal lymphatics, throracic duct, pulmonary lymphatics, and atelectasis with pneumonitis and pulmonary embolus. Causes Lung cancer is believed to have many causes. It could be provoked with many carcinogens like tobacco smoke, radiations and viral infections. Although the disease is cognise to be a familial tendency, the risk depends with the exposure to carcinogenic risk factors. Almost all types of lung cancer are caused by tobacco smoke. About 90% of patients seeking medical help are found to be directly exposed to it. The most affected cells are the small squamous types. Tobacco contains multiple components however, not all of these may cause lung cancer. It is known that there are only a few that may really trigger the cells to undergo changes. Mazzone (p1) in his study identified N-nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to be the two most carcinogens that are