Can someone please explain to me the disease of Lung Cancer?

I don't fully understand it.
I only know it's caused by smoking.
So please describe the disease, thank you!

Lung cancer as with any cancer has numerous risk factors associated with it including poor diet, exposure to asbestos and smoking like you say.

There are two different cell types in the lung which can give rise to two very different types of cancers.

Squamous cells and
Glandular cells

Squamous cells in the lung is the most common form of cancer that can be found in the lung. It afftects the squamous cells. Adenocarcinomas are cancers affecting the glandular cells. This type of cancer usually produces lots of mucous.

There are four different types of cancers of the lung:

Non-small cell carcinoma (large cell carcinoma)
Small cell carcinoma
Adenocarcinoma
Mesothelioma which is usually contracted by asbestos exposure.

Symptoms of any of these cancers include:

rapid weigh loss
persistant cough
lung pain
blood in sputum

I hope this helps

x

It is impossible to give you an answer that completely explains this disease. For that you will need a book. We do not know what causes lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the cancer of the lungs. There are several different types, but first you should know what cancer is.
You have genes called Oncogenes. When exposed to carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals, and yes, these are in cigarettes) these genes are damaged and repair themselves. After repeated exposure, the oncogenes do not repair and can then cause normal cells to grow abnormally. Cancerous tumors are basically abnormal cells that your body send blood and nutrients to. Basically, your genes (which tell everything how to grow, what to do etc.) have told the affected cells (usually in the area affected by the carcinogen) to grow differently. Eventually these different cells can metastasize and spread throughout the body. If your cancer started in the lung the (for short) mets will be lung cancer mets. I'm not sure on how that part works exactly.
So lung cancer is basically cancer of the lungs, as stated before.
There are 2 main types of lung cancer, each with their own types.
Small Cell lung cancer accounts for about 20% of lung cancer cases. It's mainly caused by smoking. The cells in small cell lung cancer are smaller and are usually made up mainly of the nucleus (control centre) of the cell. This type is usually treated with chemo or radiation. This type of lung cancer is more aggresive and spreads more rapidly.

The other type of lung cancer is non-small-cell lung cancer. There are 3 types of non-small cell lung cancer. They are Squamous cell, carcinoma, Adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma. These respond in much the same way as each other. Sometimes, doctors can't tell them apart, so they call it undifferentiated carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma developes in the cells that line the airways. It is the most common type of lung cancer. Adenocarcinoma also developes in the cells lining the airways but is in the mucus producing glands. (Adeno means gland). Large cell carcinoma is called this because the cells are large and rounded looking.

I hope this helped!