Kathy Griffin has lung cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. 

According to the American Cancer Society, there will be an estimated 235,760 new cases of lung cancer in 2021.

Of those, 119,100 will be reported in men while 116,660 will be diagnosed in women.

The ACS expects that there will be a total of around 131,880 deaths from lung cancer. Of those, more than half – 69,410 – will be men while 62,470 will be women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that in the US about 10 percent to 20 percent of lung cancers, or 20,000 to 40,000 lung cancers each year, happen in people who never smoked or smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.

Researchers estimate that secondhand smoke contributes to about 7,300 cases and exposure to radon, a radioactive gas that has no taste or odor, to about 2,900 cases of these lung cancers.

Radon is emitted in varying quantities or concentrations from radioactive elements, for example Uranium, that are naturally present in rocks and soils. 

Epidemiological studies on the health of miners undertaken by the United States Public Health Service during the 1950s and 1960s established a link between higher concentrations of Radon and incidences of lung cancer.

As Radon is emitted from the ground, it quickly dilutes in the atmosphere into relatively harmless concentrations.

But in confined and unventilated spaces in buildings, in basements and in underground mines, it’s concentration levels can become dangerously high. 

Radon itself does not really cause tissue damage.

It is the decay products, sometimes referred to as the progeny or daughters of Radon, that do.

Radon gas may be inhaled and exhaled with little damaging effect.

But the decay products include Radon – 222 (derived from Uranium – 238) and Radon – 220 (also known as Thoron, and derived from Thorium – 232), and other progeny including Polonium-218, 214 and 210, that can.

In fact, Radon – 222, is on the World Health Organization’s list of things that definitely cause cancer.

Epidemiological studies on the health of miners undertaken by the United States Public Health Service during the 1950s and 1960s also established a link between higher concentrations of Radon and incidences of lung cancer.

Usually, lung cancer is diagnosed too late for a good chance at survival. 

Last year, researchers reported the largest-ever one-year decline in the US cancer death rate, a drop they credited to advances in lung-tumor treatments.

The overall cancer death rate has been falling about 1.5 percent a year since 1991.

It fell 2.2 percent from 2016 to 2017. That’s the largest drop ever seen in national cancer statistics going back to 1930, said Rebecca Siegel, the lead author.

‘It’s absolutely driven by lung cancer,’ which accounts for about a quarter of all cancer deaths, she said.

Take lung cancer out of the mix, and the 2017 rate drop is 1.4 percent, she added.  

There are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer, but many people with the condition eventually develop symptoms including:

– a persistent cough

– coughing up blood

– persistent breathlessness

– unexplained tiredness and weight loss

– an ache or pain when breathing or coughing

You should see a GP if you have these symptoms.

Types of lung cancer 

There are two main forms of primary lung cancer. 

These are classified by the type of cells in which the cancer starts growing. 

They are:

– Non-small-cell lung cancer. The most common form, accounting for more than 87 per cent of cases. 

– It can be one of three types: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma or large-cell carcinoma.

– Small-cell lung cancer – a less common form that usually spreads faster than non-small-cell lung cancer.

– The type of lung cancer you have determines which treatments are recommended.

Who’s affected

Lung cancer mainly affects older people. It’s rare in people younger than 40. 

Although people who have never smoked can develop lung cancer, smoking is the most common cause (accounting for about 72 per cent of cases). 

This is because smoking involves regularly inhaling a number of different toxic substances.

Treating lung cancer

Treatment depends on the type of mutation the cancer has, how far it’s spread and how good your general health is.

If the condition is diagnosed early and the cancerous cells are confined to a small area, surgery to remove the affected area of lung may be recommended.

If surgery is unsuitable due to your general health, radiotherapy to destroy the cancerous cells may be recommended instead.

If the cancer has spread too far for surgery or radiotherapy to be effective, chemotherapy is usually used.

There are also a number of medicines known as targeted therapies. 

They target a specific change in or around the cancer cells that is helping them to grow. 

Targeted therapies cannot cure lung cancer but they can slow its spread.