Lung cancer is a growth of malignant cells in the lungs.You see, throughout your life the cells in your body continually divide and reproduce. Believe it or not, every minute of your life this process takes place ten million times. Think about it … ten million times a minute! Not only is that incredible, it’s a demonstration of how complex your body really is.

Now, for the most part, this all takes place in an orderly manner as your cells go about doing their job of meeting the needs of your body. Occasionally, however, a cellular mutation will occur and rather than maturing and dying as it was intended to do, a cell continues reproducing. This is cancer … the uncontrolled reproduction and growth of abnormal cells in the body.

Lung cancer is the growth of these malignant cells in the lungs.

Most often, lung cancer is believed to form in the epithelial lining of the airways, where the oxygen is extracted from the air we breathe. This is why lung cancer is sometimes referred to as bronchogenic carcinoma (cancer arising from the bronchia). A relatively small percentage of lung cancer (10% or less) begins in the pleura, the thin tissue sac that surrounds the lungs. These cancers are called mesothelioma. The most common form of mesothelioma is linked to exposure to asbestos. The rarest form of lung cancer begins in the blood vessels or other supporting tissues of the lungs.

Types of Lung Cancer

There are two main types of lung cancer - small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Small cell lung cancer is the less common of the two, which is good, because it’s also the more deadly. Less than one percent of small cell lung cancer is diagnosed in non-smokers. This means that smoking is the primary culprit behind this type of lung cancer. SCLC is aggressive and fast-moving. It rapidly metastasizes to other organs, and is often not discovered until the cancer is already widespread throughout the body.

Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for approximately 80% of diagnosed lung cancer cases. Within this category of lung cancer, there are three main sub-categories … squamous cell cancer, adenocarcinomas, and large cell carcinomas. Sometimes two or even all three can appear together.

Finally, there are some less common types of lung cancer such as bronchial carcinoids (small tumors that are most often found in people under 40 years of age). These tend to be less aggressive, grow slowly, and often can be effectively treated.

A Deadly Cancer

Cancer of the lungs is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. This is primarily due to the fact that lung cancer tends to metastasize early in the process of the disease and is often not discovered until it’s spread. Additionally, when lung cancer does metastasize, it tends to spread to the most vital yet vulnerable organs of the body. The adrenal glands, the liver, the brain and the bones are all early targets.

Finally, because the lungs are so susceptible to metastatic cancers from other sources throughout the body, it’s not uncommon to find a cancer in the lungs that is not lung cancer but a metastatic cancer. These cancers tend to make their home in the peripheral tissues of the lungs rather than the primary tissues.

The link between asbestos and lung cancer is well established today. However, this was not always the case. For many decades, asbestos was considered to be a miracle mineral. It is an excellent insulator and this was one of its primary uses. Asbestos was also incorporated into a wide range of products manufactured.Suspicions that asbestos exposure could cause serious health problems existed as far back as the last decade of the nineteenth century. It is thought that those interested in promoting asbestos consumption acted to discredit such reports.

By 1931, the British government had concluded that asbestos was possibly harmful to the body and took steps to ensure safety of those handling asbestos. The US government undertook similar actions during the 1970s.

Unfortunately, by that time, many thousands of people had their lives seriously affected by asbestos related lung cancer and other health problems. Asbestos was widely used in factories, homes and elsewhere.

Asbestos causes problems like scarring in the lungs, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural plaques. It also causes a deadly, aggressive type of cancer called mesothelioma.

Unlike normal lung cancer which affects the tissues of the lung itself, mesothelioma affects the lining around the lungs called the pleura. This type of cancer arises almost only due to asbestos exposure.

Even a short exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma. Further, the cancer can show up several decades after the asbestos exposure.

As with most lung-related cancers, smoking increases the odds of contracting mesothelioma significantly. Some studies indicate that a smoker who has been exposed to asbestos has 50 to 90 times the chances of developing mesothelioma and other cancers of the lung, when compared to a non-smoker with similar asbestos exposure. A non-smoker who has been exposed to asbestos has about 5 times higher chance of developing mesothelioma compared to people who were never exposed to asbestos.

If you have had any exposure to asbestos either in the workplace or elsewhere, you should have regular screenings to detect any abnormalities in the lung. And this should be continued because lung cancer can show up as late as 50 years after the asbestos exposure. Early diagnosis of lung cancer offers the best hope for survival.

Diagnostic methods for detecting asbestos related lung cancers include going through a patient’s medical history as well as performing chest x-rays, MRI scans, CAT scans, tissue sampling and biopsy.

The outlook for those diagnosed with mesothelioma (and other types of lung cancers) is generally not encouraging. In some cases, the life expectancy for someone diagnosed with mesothelioma may be as little as 2-3 months. Multi-treatment methods used in some clinical trials have managed to significantly enhance life expectancy — one such trial achieved a 40% survival rate at five years.

Treatment for mesothelioma often combines chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. In many cases though, surgery may be ruled out because the cancer is diagnosed at a late stage. There are new chemotherapy treatments available that seem promising.

The first drug developed specifically to treat mesothelioma was Alimta, which was approved by the Food and Drugs Administration in 2004. When Alimta is used in combination with Cisplatin, which is also a drug used to treat cancers, it was found to increase patients’ life expectancy. There is intensive research going on to produce a cure for these aggressive asbestos related cancers and these efforts may eventually produce a reliable cure.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the mesothelium or the sac like protective covering of internal organs. The main cause is exposure to asbestos. Therefore the best possible prevention is to avoid exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma takes about thirty to fifty years for making itself prominent. People above the age of sixty five have shown an increased tendency to develop asbestos cancer. The mesothelioma is more common in men than women.Asbestos is a mineral that is very commonly used. Due to increased health risks the use of asbestos has been reduced according to government regulations. In spite of all the regulations asbestos is being used in many manufacturing industries where it is mandatory for production. The most effective prevention method is to limit the exposure.

Working in a company which uses asbestos is not safe. Looking for alternate employment would be the safest option. The companies have asbestos related safety precautions and one can ensure they are being followed. The commonly seen jobs that pose the highest risk of mesothelioma are:

1-Insulation manufacturing and installations.

2-Mining

3-Railroad workers

4-Workers in the factories

5-Asbestos manufacturing companies

6-Ship yard workers

7-Automotive repairs

8-Manufacturers of gas masks

Many old homes contain traces of asbestos. If you suspect your home to contain materials made of asbestos they can be tested in the laboratory. There are agencies dealing with asbestos removal and they can be contacted for removing asbestos from your home. Though it can be done by yourself it is safer to let an asbestos abatement or removal contractor perform the procedure.

Asbestos that is not disturbed is not considered a health hazard. But if there is flaking, friable ceilings and plumbing and if the building is built before the 1980s then there are chances that they contain asbestos and have to be removed safely. Public buildings like schools, office buildings, libraries, theatres etc are all prone to this hazard. The problem should be brought to the city authorities’ notice. Living near someone who works near asbestos also exposes you to the mineral.

Asbestos can be transported through clothing, skin and hair. Even a few strands of asbestos can sometimes lead to mesothelioma.

Once you have been exposed to asbestos and have not yet been diagnosed with the fatal condition, there is still hope for you. If care is taken you might not even develop it. Blood tests can be done annually to confirm that you are well. There are other diagnostic tools that can be performed annually on asbestos exposed individuals to reconfirm their health status. These tests also aid in early detection when the condition is curable and can be controlled.

Smoking should be stopped since smokers are more susceptible to the onset of the condition if they have asbestos exposure history. Prevention is the best way out in mesothelioma since it is fatal if not diagnosed early.

To Your Health!

Mesothelioma and its partner disease, asbestosis, are not limited to any one person or any one nation. Asbestos and asbestos products have been mined and manufactured, and sought after and sold, in nations around the world. The latent diseases of asbestosis and its cancerous partner, mesothelioma, are slowly developing into a world-wide epidemic.Mesothelioma and asbestosis diseases have been clearly defined as being attributed to asbestos exposure. Despite these undisputable findings, world production of asbestos has risen from 2.18 million metric tons in 2006 to 2.20 million metric tons in 2007, according to the US Government’s 2007 Minerals Handbook. The International World has yet to agree upon and abide by a universal consensus of asbestos safety levels. As some countries ban the use of asbestos, others continue to seek safe exposure levels, and yet others disregard the impending health epidemic. Many smaller nations continue to ignore the perilous diseases of asbestos, while asbestos workers may or may not be aware of their life-risking work environments. Even advanced nations fail to implement protection and procedures to protect workers exposed to asbestos for fear of substantial economic loss.

Even though the European Union banned asbestos in 2005, European companies still have financial interest in companies located in Africa, Canada and South America. Canada has been one of the world’s largest asbestos producers, however they only use 29% of what they produce, and aggressive sales efforts are targeted towards Asia, Africa and South America. In Japan, local factory and building inspections failed to identify asbestos in more than half of the buildings inspected. Even with occupational laws in place, India and China fail to protect the majority of their asbestos workers.

The leaders of asbestos production, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Canada, and Zimbabwe, are responsible for 96% of the world’s asbestos production. In China, the world’s second largest asbestos producer, a significant portion of asbestos workers work without any protection in environments conducive to asbestosis and mesothelioma production. China not only fails to protect its workers from asbestosis and mesothelioma on a mass scale, but their asbestos producing factories are typically located near heavily populated cities. The effects of asbestos exposure and the incidences of asbestosis and mesothelioma are vastly unreported in highly populated areas due to lack of medical records, non-existent laws mandating lengthy medical record-keeping standards, and political interference.

Asbestosis and Mesothelioma are devastating diseases that can affect men, women and children that are exposed to asbestos. It is up to the socially responsible individuals and corporations to continue their advocacy work to protect hard working men and women from the incapacitating diseases of asbestosis and mesothelioma. With the prevalence of asbestos exposure that still exists, there is little doubt that asbestosis and mesothelioma will continue to develop well into the next century. The deadly misfortune of the disease on hardworking individuals can only be eradicated with an end to the demand for asbestos containing products.