Cancer of the bronchi

To date, cancer of the bronchi (often referred to as lung cancer) is 95% of all known tumor diseases of the respiratory system. Most often it occurs in people who have reached the age of forty-five, regardless of their sexual characteristics. Cancer begins with the appearance of a violation of the structure of the bronchial cells, then develops either inside the organ, closing its lumen, or sprouting into its walls, or grows into the bronchi and surrounding tissues.

Half of people with bronchial cancer have metastases in the lymph nodes and adrenal glands, 40% in the liver, and 20% in the brain and bones. Most often the disease affects the right lung, namely its upper lobes.

There is a peripheral cancer of the bronchi that develops in the bronchioles, and a central one that affects large bronchi (major, segmental and lobar). The latter occurs in 60% of cases.

Consider the stages of development of cancer.

1. Small size tumor of large bronchus or small bronchi without development of metastases.

2. A tumor of the same size as in the first stage of development, but there are single metastases in nearby lymph nodes.

3. The tumor extends beyond the lungs and grows into the adjacent organ, the metastases multiply and affect the lymph nodes.

4. The tumor extends to the chest, pleura, diaphragm, metastases begin to spread throughout the human body.

The very picture of the disease depends on the size of the affected area, the stage of the disease, the structure of the tumor. Bronchial cancer begins to manifest its symptoms with a cough that eventually becomes severe and is accompanied by shortness of breath. Cough after a lapse of time does not decrease, but only increases. The most pronounced it is with the growth of a cancerous tumor, when it acts irritatingly on the mucous organ, because it is a foreign body, and thus, causes spasm of the bronchi.

When the tumor begins to disintegrate, hemoptysis appears. This symptom is inherent in 40% of patients. The third symptom is pain in the chest due to a lesion of the pleura. It is inherent in 70% of patients. Another symptom is an increase in the temperature that occurs with inflammation of a part of the lung (with the development of pneumonitis).

Among the common symptoms are weakness, weight loss, sweating, fatigue.

The development of such a disease, as bronchial cancer, is affected by chronic inflammatory processes that occur in the respiratory system. This includes chronic bronchitis and pneumonia, as well as scars in the lungs due to tuberculosis. Also contribute to its development of smoking, pollution of the atmosphere, as well as heredity.

It should be said that timely treatment can give some effect. So, with such a disease, surgical intervention is often used, as well as radiation and chemotherapy. In the case of pneumonia, a course of antibiotics is prescribed. These measures guarantee a temporary improvement of the patient's condition and prolong his life. The choice of therapeutic measures depends on the form of cancer disease, the degree of its severity, and also on the presence of metastases.

Prevention measures include the treatment of inflammation in the respiratory system in order to prevent the development of their chronic forms. If they are not amenable to treatment, they are removed surgically, that is, they remove the affected area of the lung.

Very important here is the refusal to smoke, the use of devices to protect against harmful substances in enterprises.

Thus, bronchial cancer takes a leading place among all tumorous diseases of the respiratory system. Heredity, negative influence of the environment and smoking are the leading provocateurs of the development of cancer.