Introduction
The lungs are made up of 2 sponge-looking tissues in the chest. The right lung consists of 3 parts, referred to as lobes, while the left has two lobes. Given that the heart is located on the left side and takes some space, it means the left lung is smaller. The alveoli are tiny air sacks that are responsible for the absorption of oxygen into the blood. Additionally, the alveoli get rid of the carbon dioxide during exhalation. The primary function of the lungs is to take in oxygen and dispense carbon dioxide. Typically, lung cancer begins in the bronchi cell lining and segments of the lungs, like the alveoli and bronchioles. This essay will highlight the risk factors for lung cancer, the incidence rates, and mortality rates of the disease.
Risk factors
Tobacco (Firsthand and Secondhand smoke)
The leading cause of lung cancer is tobacco smoking. Approximately 80% of deaths related to lung cancer are believed to be a result of tobacco, with the figure probably being greater for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Lung cancer risk for smokers is significantly higher than for nonsmokers. The more one smokes, and the more cigarette packets one smokes, the higher the risk for diagnosis. Pipe smoking and cigar smoking have an almost equal likelihood of cigarette smoking causing lung cancer. Smoking “light” or low-tar cigarettes also has an equal likelihood of causing lung cancer as smoking regular cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes might exacerbate the risk of lung cancer compared to regular cigarettes because menthol may make it easier for smokers to inhale even more deeply (American Cancer Society, 2023). For nonsmokers, inhaling the smoke from smokers (referred to as secondhand smoke) has the likelihood of increasing one’s risk of being diagnosed with lung cancer. Secondhand smoke is the USA’s third most frequent cause of lung cancer.
Radon exposure
Radon is a radioactive gas that naturally occurs and is an outcome of uranium breakdown in rocks and soil. It is invisible to the naked eye and cannot be smelled or tasted. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asserts that the second most common risk factor for nonsmokers in the US is radon. There is an insignificant amount of radon outside that is unlikely to cause any danger, although this gas might be highly concentrated indoors. Inhaling radon subjects the lungs to minor radiation amounts, thus heightening the individual’s risk of lung cancer (American Cancer Society, 2023). Houses, among other buildings in almost every location of the USA, could potentially have elevated amounts of radon indoors.
Asbestos Exposure
People whose work involves contact with asbestos, such as insulation jobs, mills, mines, shipyards, and textile plants, have a higher likelihood of dying from lung cancer. There is a greater risk for lung cancer diagnoses among workers subjected to environments with asbestos who smoke as well. Individuals subjected to great amounts of asbestos are at a higher risk of acquiring mesothelioma, a form of cancer that begins in the lungs’ surrounding lining known as the pleura (American Cancer Society, 2023). Government regulations have, in recent years, considerably reduced asbestos use in industrial and commercial products. Asbestos still remains present in many houses, although it is regarded harmless as long as there is no renovation, demolition, or deterioration that might cause its release into the atmosphere.
Incidences
Lung cancer has, in the last several decades, been the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer globally (Bray et al., 2018). Statistics from 2018 on lung cancer showed an approximated 2.1 million novel cases of lung cancer diagnosis, which was 12% of the world’s total cancer affliction. Lung cancer still continues to be the most popular cancer diagnosis among men, with an estimated 1.37 million diagnoses. Regions with the highest incidents include Eastern Asia, Micronesia, Eastern and Central Europe, and Polynesia. Rates of incidence among women are largely lower compared to men, with an estimated 720,000 novel diagnoses in 2018. There are differences in the geographical rates of incidences for women in comparison to men. Such variations can be credited to cigarette smoking’s historical differences. The highest rates of incidences among women appear in North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe (Schabath & Cote, 2019).
Among men, lung cancer in the US is the second highest prevalent cancer after prostate cancer, while in women, it is the second highest prevalent cancer after breast cancer (Siegel et al., 2019). There were a projected 228,150 novel incidents of lung cancer in 2019. The rate of occurrence among women is 52 for every 100,000 and 71 for every 100,000 among men. Despite the dwindling rate among men beginning in the mid-1980s, rates of occurrence for women did not begin to go down until the mid-2000s due to historical sex-centered disparities of uptake in smoking as well as its consequent cessation. The fall in occurrence has seen a momentum gain in the last decade, with a decrease in rates from 2011 to 2015 at 1.5% annually in women and 3% annually in men. The occurrence of lung cancer is geographically higher in the South, Midwest, and the East (Schabath & Cote, 2019).
Mortality
The geographical patterns worldwide regarding deaths caused by lung cancer are close to the ones in incidence as a result of this disease’s high rate of fatality and poor survival. Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer mortality among males and the second most common cause of cancer deaths among females. The approximate number of deaths that occurred in 2018 was 1.8 million, which made up 1 out of 5 global cancer mortalities. The disparities in terms of geography and between women and men can mostly be ascribed to tobacco smoking’s historical patterns as well as the tobacco epidemic maturity (Bray et al., 2018).
Lung cancer is the number one cause of death caused by cancer in the US among both women and men (Siegel et al., 2019). There were an approximated 142,670 mortalities that were projected to occur in 2019, which accounts for 23.5% of every cancer-related mortality. Men’s mortality rate is around 51.6 for every 100,000 individuals and 34.4 for every 100,000 individuals for females. As a result of the decline in smoking, there has been a decrease in lung cancer mortalities by 48%, beginning with 1990 among males and by 23% among females in 2002. There was a decline in mortality rate from 2012 to 2016 by approximately 3% annually in females and 4% annually in males. Lung cancer-related deaths geographically follow a parallel trend in occurrence, inclusive of the highest rates as seen in the south (Schabath & Cote, 2019).
Conclusion
Overall, significant progress has been made over the past decades across the continuum for cancer control concerning prevention, etiology, diagnosis, early detection, survivorship, treatment, and end-of-life. Nevertheless, lung cancer still remains a significant global public health affliction. In terms of etiology, concerted efforts are necessary for the identification of lung cancer causal risk factors among nonsmokers and the identification of nonsmokers with the highest probability of getting lung cancer that could profit from a program for lung cancer screening.
References
American Cancer Society. (2023). Lung cancer risk factors: Smoking & lung cancer. Smoking & Lung Cancer | American Cancer Society. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/lung-cancer/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html
Bray, F., Ferlay, J., Soerjomataram, I., Siegel, R. L., Torre, L. A., & Jemal, A. (2018). Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: A cancer journal for clinicians, 68(6), 394-424.
Schabath, M. B., & Cote, M. L. (2019). Cancer Progress and Priorities: Lung Cancer. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention: a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 28(10), 1563–1579. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-19-0221
Siegel, R. L., Miller, K. D., & Jemal, A. (2019). Cancer statistics, 2019. CA: A cancer journal for clinicians, 69(1), 7-34.
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