Brain stroke and lung cancer

Hello, With reference to your query regarding your grandmother have got lung cancer. Before this she had a brain stroke and was admitted to the hospital where they found that she is having lung cancer. Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the world in both men and women. Cigarette smoking is the principle factor but passive smoking can also cause lung cancer. There are two types of lung cancer: (a) small cell lung cancer (SCLC), (b) Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The stage of lung cancer refers to the spread in the body. The symptoms include a cough that does not get away and gets worse, constant chest pain, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, wheezing or hoarseness, repeated problems with pneumonia or bronchitis, swelling of the neck and face, loss of appetite and proliferation of cells to form a mass known as (Tumor). It could be benign or malignant. Benign can be removed and do not spread to the other parts of the body, whereas malignant grow aggressively and invade other tissues of the body. This process is known as metastasis. It is a life threatening cancer and one of the most difficult cancers to treat. It can spread to adrenal glands, liver, brain and bone. It can arise from any part of the lung but 90-95% are from epithelial cells. That is why it is known as (Bone Carcinoma); but it can also arise from the pleura and known as (mesothelioma). It is a disease of the elderly (over 65 years). 90% lung cancer arise as a result of tobacco use, whereas pipe and cigar may also cause lung cancer but incidence is not as high as cigarette smoking. Apart from cigarette smoking, you can get it from asbestos fibers, radon gas, familial disposition, lung diseases like COPD, prior history of lung cancer and air pollution. Types of cancer: (a) adenocarcinoma (b) squamous cell carcinoma (c) large cell carcinoma (d) mixture. Diagnosis can be done by history and physical examination, chest X-ray, CAT Scan, MRI, PET, Bone scans, sputum cytology, bronchoscopy, fine needle aspiration (FNA), thoracocentosis, blood tests. There are different stages i.e. 1 to 4. Treatment depends on chemotherapy or radiation therapy, or surgery removal of lung (stage 1 & 2). Chemotherapy may result in hair loss, nausea, vomiting and mouth sores. In the early stages you can do radio frequency ablation. Prognosis depends on the size of the cancer, presence of the symptoms, type of lung cancer and overall health status of the patient. Using helical low-dose CT Scan can be used for prevention. Hope this helps. Thank you.