Lung Cancer
Original Editors - Students from Glasgow Caledonian University's Cardiorespiratory Therapeutics Project.
Top Contributors - Sarah Hansford, Kaden Johnson, Lucinda hampton, Kim Jackson, Vidya Acharya, Admin, WikiSysop, 127.0.0.1, Mariam Hashem, Michelle Lee, Adam Vallely Farrell, Kapil Narale and Aya Alhindi
Definition/Description[edit | edit source]
Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that start off in one or both lungs and arises from the cells of the respiratory epithelium. Cancer that is formed initially in the lungs is known as primary lung cancer and cancer that begins in another area of the body but then spreads to the lungs is called secondary lung cancer. Primary lung cancer is divided into two types which are classified as small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. The classification of these two types of primary lung cancer is established by the type of cells in which the cancer starts.
Non-small-cell lung cancer is the most common type of primary lung cancer, as it accounts for more than 80% of cases. It is further divided into 3 subtypes: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large-cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
- Located 2/3 central and 1/3 periphery of the lung
- Arises from large airway epithelial cells
- Strong association with cigarette smoking
- Tends to create obstruction and cause distal atelectasis
- Best prognosis
Adenocarcinoma
- Located in the periphery of the lung
- Arises from small airway epithelial cells and type II alveolar cells
- Most common type of lung cancer in non-smokers and more prevalent in women
Large-cell carcinoma
- Located in the periphery of the lung
- Similar to adenocarcinoma but the lesions tend to be larger
Small-cell lung cancer is a highly malignant tumor derived from cells exhibiting neuroendocrine characteristics. It is a less common type that accounts for about 15-20% of cases and usually spreads faster than non-small-cell lung cancer. It is often at a more advanced stage when it is diagnosed (British Lung Foundation, 2015). This type of lung cancer, which has the strongest association with cigarette smoking, leads to the worst prognosis due to it’s rapid growth.
Epidemiology[edit | edit source]
Background epidemiology to the disease or condition (to include prevalence and incidence as appropriate from a UK or Scottish perspective. (You may want to also look at the disease prevalence across different social economic groups).
Aetiology[edit | edit source]
The causes of the disease or condition, current thinking and research activity as appropriate
Investigations[edit | edit source]
This may well include any investigations used to gain a diagnosis or that you might need to gain information about your patient assessment.
Clinical Manifestations[edit | edit source]
Clinical manifestations (the signs and symptoms your patient may well present to you on an examination) ensure you relate this back to the underlying pathophysiology.
Physiotherapy and Other Management[edit | edit source]
Physiotherapy and other management. Other health professionals will be treating your patient. What is their input?
Prevention[edit | edit source]
Brief consideration of how this pathology could be prevented and the physiotherapy role in health promotion in relation to prevention of disease or disease progression.
Resources
[edit | edit source]
add appropriate resources here
Recent Related Research (from Pubmed)[edit | edit source]
see tutorial on Adding PubMed Feed
Extension:RSS -- Error: Not a valid URL: addfeedhere|charset=UTF-8|short|max=10
References[edit | edit source]
see adding references tutorial.
