Lung Cancer is something that people think that they could never get, but actually it is very common. Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. It either starts off in one or both of the lungs. The abnormal cells divide rapidly and form tumors. As these tumors become larger they reduce the lung’s ability to provide oxygen. Lung cancer can occur when a cells gene mutation makes the cell not able to correct DNA damage. Most lung cancer is caused by carcinogens or just simply inherited from family members. There are four types of lung cancer. Bronchioalveolar, large-cell undifferentiated carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma and, adenocarcinoma. Lung cancer is one of the major cancer types. It is the most common cause of cancer globally, about 13% of all cancer diagnosed each year and about 1 in 5 cancer-related deaths. Although scientists have a method to helping lung cancer, there is still research going on about it.
There is about ten different treatments for lung cancer, all depending on what type of lung cancer the patient has. But overall researchers are hoping to develop vaccines or other drugs to help the body’s immune system fight off cancer. One of the things they are looking at is drugs that block PD-1 and PD-L1. Cancer cells often have a protein called PD-L1, this protein helps them evade the immune system. New drugs that can block PD-L1 protein can help the immune system recognize the cancer cells sooner. Also, Nivolumab or pembrolizumab are drugs recently found that have been shown to shrink or slow down the growth of some of these tumors. Researchers are also looking at certain vaccines to help treat lung cancer. These vaccines are meant to boost the body’s immune systems response against lung cancer cells. Even though these treatments are still being tested, it is definitely a big step in helping defeat lung cancer.
Although smoking is a major cause of lung cancer. There is also risks to non-smokers without inheriting it from family members. Some of the risks are radon gas, secondhand smoke, air pollution, gene mutation, and cancer-causing agents at work. Radon gas is accountable for about 20,000 deaths from lung cancer every year. Radon is naturally outdoors in somewhat harmless amounts. Secondhand smoke is accountable for approximately 3,400 non-smokers die of lung cancer. For certain people, there workplace exposes them to diesel exhaust and carcinogens. This would fall into the cancer-causing agents. Gene mutation is still being studied. Researchers are learning more about what makes cells become cancerous. According to the Clinical Cancer Research, gene mutation is more common in non-smokers than smokers.
Scientists have recently discovered that new lung cancer mutations may also mean more treatment options. If a doctor knows that a patient has a specific genetic mutation they can target it with certain drugs to specifically help it. Researchers have found that more than 75% of patients with lung adenocarcinoma have been able to find genetic alterations which means doctors could use this to help make treatment decisions.
In conclusion, Lung cancer is one of the mainly found cancers. There is still research being done to hopefully find the cure to cancer. As scientists study lung cancer more, the more they find that could be a solution in the future. There are some things to do to prevent lung cancer. Such as, have your home tested for radon, stay away from secondhand smoke, know what you’re exposed to at work, and believe it or not eating fruits and vegetables!
Questions for further research:
- How often should you get your home tested for radon?
- Do you think the answer to curing lung cancer could be found in the gene mutations? Why?
- What kind of drugs block PD-1?