Lung Cancer

In 2013 there were an estimated 159,480 deaths due to lung cancer in the United States alone (Lung Cancer). Lung cancer is an unrelenting disease that is caused by many environmental factors and personal habits. It begins as mutations within a cell’s DNA and eventually progresses to a tumor which can then spread to various other parts of the body. There is no cure for lung cancer presently, however there are numerous treatments available to patients in hopes of eradicating or at least controlling the disease.

In order to treat and prevent lung cancer it is imperative to first understand what lung cancer actually is. Lung cancer is defined as being the unchecked development of abnormal cells inside one or both lungs (Lung Cancer 101). Cancer itself starts with a mutation in a cell’s DNA and in order for a cell to become a complete lung cancer cell it must experience a chain of mutations. Cells that are not fully cancerous are known as precancerous cells, which although they possess some mutations they are still able to act as regular lung cells. Over time as the cell divides and passes on its mutated genes to its daughter cells those new cells then mutate and eventually the cells lose their functionality as normal lung cells. After a period the mutated lung cells begin to clump together and form what is known as a tumor. If the cancer cells of the tumor multiply without restraint and begin to destroy the healthy surrounding lung cells the tumor is then diagnosed as being malignant. Malignant tumors can lead to the cancerous cells spreading by being delivered to other areas of the body from the tumor shedding the cancer cells and afterwards the cells being picked up into the blood stream or lymph, the fluid surrounding the lung tis...

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