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Recently, it is easy to find cases where housewives who do not smoke have contracted lung cancer. In fact, regarding 88% of women who have had lung cancer surgery have never smoked in their lifetime, and since 2015, the number of women with lung cancer is increasing by 3.2% every year.
Considering that the smoking rate among women 19 years of age and older decreased from 6.5% to 5.9% during the same period, it is analyzed that smoking, the biggest cause of lung cancer, is not the cause of the increase in female lung cancer patients. According to the results of a study conducted from 2003 to 2015 at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (a study of 957 female lung cancer patients), 90% of female lung cancer patients in Korea were non-smokers.
So, what is the reason for the increase in female lung cancer patients? There are two main types of smoke: the smoke from cooking in the kitchen and secondhand smoke. Women who cook in a poorly ventilated space have a 1.4 times higher risk of lung cancer than women who do not. The risk was higher especially when cooking that uses a lot of oil, such as deep-fried or pan-fried dishes.
Non-smokers lung cancer, which accounts for the majority of lung cancer in women, has a different pattern from that of smokers, and the most notable thing is that it occurs at a younger age. The incidence of lung cancer in men is high in the late 60s, and in women, it occurs mainly in the late 50s.
Next, we explored the main symptoms and treatments for lung cancer with Professor Jo Seok-ki of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.
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◇ Lung cancer causes and main symptoms
The cause of lung cancer is not yet clear, but smoking is thought to be the biggest factor. People who smoke a lot are more likely to get lung cancer, and those who smoke every day are 4.5 to 80 times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmokers. However, 10-20% of lung cancers are not directly related to smoking, but are known to be related to air pollution, other environmental factors, radioactive materials, and asbestos.
Lung cancer usually has no symptoms at first, but symptoms begin to appear as the size of the cancer grows and progresses. Depending on the location of the tumor, symptoms such as a cough that does not go away, chest pain, a “wheezing” sound when breathing, shortness of breath, bloody sputum, hoarseness, and swelling of the face or throat may occur. However, not all lung cancers are accompanied by symptoms, so it is necessary to receive early check-ups and regular check-ups.
The Lung Cancer Society announced that the death rate from lung cancer was reduced by 20% worldwide thanks to early screening through CT. It is recommended that you get tested.
◇ What is the best way to treat lung cancer?
Most lung cancer patients can be diagnosed through computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when abnormal findings are found on plain chest radiography. However, the diagnosis of lung cancer is not made with X-rays or CT, but through biopsy.
Even if it looks like a tumor on a chest X-ray or CT scan and is thought to be lung cancer, it is sometimes diagnosed as a disease such as tuberculosis rather than cancer by biopsy. The diagnosis is confirmed only when cancer cells are confirmed by sputum cytology and biopsy. Histological examination is performed through bronchoscopy or fine needle aspiration.
Subsequent lung cancer treatment differs depending on the non-small cell cancer and small cell cancer, and the prognosis varies depending on the disease progression at the time of diagnosis. It is important to select the best treatment for each individual patient because treatment should be selected according to the patient’s general condition and patient’s will at the time of initiation of treatment.
For small cell cancer, chemotherapy is the standard treatment. In local cases, radiation therapy is combined with chemotherapy. Surgical treatment is performed when the type of lung cancer is an early stage non-small cell cancer and the patient is in a state of health that can tolerate surgery.
Radiation therapy is a method of inhibiting the growth of lung cancer or stopping the growth of lung cancer by irradiating high-energy rays to the cancer. It is performed by the Department of Radiation Oncology, and some patients are cured. Chemotherapy is a method of selectively destroying rapidly growing tumor cells by chemotherapy in small cell cancer or advanced stage non-small cell cancer.
