Does lung cancer affect certain people?
Family history: Genetics may predispose certain people to lung cancer. Individuals with an immediate family member who has or had lung cancer (and who does not or did not smoke) may be more prone to developing the disease. Smoking and secondhand smoke: Smoking is widely considered the leading cause of lung cancer.
What are the signs that lung cancer has spread?
If lung cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it may cause:
- Bone pain (like pain in the back or hips)
- Nervous system changes (such as headache, weakness or numbness of an arm or leg, dizziness, balance problems, or seizures), from cancer spread to the brain.
Who is lung cancer most common to?
Most people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older; a very small number of people diagnosed are younger than 45. The average age of people when diagnosed is about 70. Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, making up almost 25% of all cancer deaths.
How long does it take for lung cancer to progress from Stage 1 to Stage 4?
It takes about three to six months for most lung cancers to double their size. Therefore, it could take several years for a typical lung cancer to reach a size at which it could be diagnosed on a chest X-ray.
What is the life expectancy of someone with lung cancer?
The 5-year survival rate for all people with all types of lung cancer is 21%. The 5-year survival rate for men is 17%. The 5-year survival rate for women is 24%. The 5-year survival rate for NSCLC is 25%, compared to 7% for small cell lung cancer.
What are the odds of beating lung cancer?
The five-year survival rate for lung cancer is 56 percent for cases detected when the disease is still localized (within the lungs). However, only 16 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an early stage. For distant tumors (spread to other organs) the five-year survival rate is only 5 percent.
Is all lung cancer terminal?
Even if lung cancer is not curable, it is almost always treatable. And thankfully, newer options often have fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy, so you can enjoy a higher quality of life than previous generations who fought the disease.