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Once upon a time, this fatal disease mainly affected men. Today more and more women suffer from it.
More and more Polish women suffer from lung cancer. Today in Poland it is the number one cancer affecting men and number two (after breast cancer) among women. However, in 2007 more Polish women died from lung cancer than from breast cancer.
Over the past decades, there has been a tenfold increase in the incidence of lung cancer among Polish women. The profile of a lung cancer patient changes from an older man to a younger and younger woman. Since lung cancer is usually found too late and the effectiveness of treatment is modest, it is better to prevent this disease. – The fight against this cancer consists primarily in the fight against smoking, because more than 90 percent. the sick are smokers – says prof. Tadeusz Orłowski, president of the Polish Lung Cancer Group.
Lung cancer and smoking
In the 9th century, lung cancer was rare. It was only the mass smoking of cigarettes that made it such a dangerous cancer. Today, 10 out of 90 cases of the disease are smokers or people who are surrounded by smokers. About 80 percent. primary lung cancers in men and about 25 percent. in women it is the result of smoking. The risk of developing a disease in a smoker is thirty times higher than in a non-smoker. It increases according to the length of time the patient smoked and the number of cigarettes smoked per day. In passive smokers, the risk of developing lung cancer increases by about 17%. (applies to the spouses of smokers) and about XNUMX percent. for people who are at risk of being exposed to tobacco smoke at work. – The growing popularity of this addiction among young women meant that lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer in recent years in terms of the number of deaths – notes Professor Orłowski.
Pros of quitting smoking
It takes about 10-15 years for the lungs to clear itself of toxic substances after quitting smoking and to reduce the risk of developing the disease to the level of non-smokers. However, it should be remembered that after 24 hours of not smoking, the risk of acute myocardial infarction is reduced, after about 7-9 months, persistent coughing and breathing difficulties disappear, and after 5 years the risk of lung cancer is halved. Therefore, no matter how long you smoke, it is worth starting the fight against the addiction as soon as possible.
Quitting smoking is all the more important as lung cancer is very difficult to detect at an early stage, when the chances of being cured by surgery are 60-70%.
Lung cancer preventive examinations – chest X-ray
As prof. Joanna Chorostowska-Wynimko from the Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in Warsaw, also failure to perform preventive examinations, i.e. chest X-rays, increases the mortality rate due to this cancer. Lung cancer is usually diagnosed in the advanced stage, in which patients can no longer be treated surgically. Meanwhile, such treatment brings the best results. – It is diagnostic tests that are the key to improving the effectiveness of lung cancer treatment in Poland by increasing the number of diagnosed patients who can be treated surgically – says Prof. Orłowski. Once a patient develops coughing, hemoptysis or weight loss, it may be too late for surgery. Therefore, any chronic respiratory infection should be an indication for a chest X-ray.
Lung cancer incidence
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. Every year there are approximately 1 new cases of the disease worldwide. It is also one of the most common causes of cancer deaths among men and women. As prof. Orłowski, preventive and educational campaigns may contribute to more frequent reporting of patients for preventive examinations and earlier detection of this cancer, and thus increasing the possibility of surgical treatment. For the whole of Poland, the percentage of operated patients is about 200%, but there are provinces, e.g. Zachodniopomorskie, where it reaches even 000%. The worst situation is in Podlaskie Voivodeship – in 14, in Łomża and Suwałki poviats, none of the several dozen patients could be treated surgically because of the disease being too advanced. It was similar in the Lubelskie Voivodeship, in the Ryce district.
Types of neoplastic cells
Lung cancer is a disease in which malignant cancer cells appear in the lungs. They grow and divide very quickly and out of control. Masses of abnormal cells create the so-called primary tumors which, as they grow, prevent the proper functioning of the lungs. Cancer cells can detach from the tumor and travel to other organs and organs through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Then we are dealing with the formation of secondary tumor foci, the so-called metastases. There are two main types of lung cancer – small cell lung cancer and non-small cell cancer – accounting for about 80% of the total number of lung cancer. all cases of lung cancer. Different types of treatment are used depending on the type of cancer. Factors that, in addition to smoking, can cause lung cancer include exposure to asbestos and radon, scarring from other lung diseases (such as tuberculosis), family history of lung cancer, or a history of cancer. It is also believed that air pollution may be the cause of lung cancer, but this relationship has not been clearly confirmed so far.
Text: Halina Pilonis
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