The cause of lung cancer is environmental, most of which is due to smoking. Hence it is preventable in many cases. They are only very rarely hereditary and never contagious- i.
e. they do not spread by physical contact. Lung cancer is the most frequent cancer in the world and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
In India too, the incidence is high. Approximately 2.5 million people are affected worldwide and over 70,000 in India every year.
The cause of lung cancer is environmental, most of which is due to smoking. Hence it is preventable in many cases. They are only very rarely hereditary and never contagious- i.
e. they do not spread by physical contact. Unfortunately, the incidence in non-smokers is also rising.
Let's see what Dr. Jacob George, Consultant Medical Oncology, Manipal Hospital, Goa has to say on this. Lung cancers are aggressive tumours.
Patients presenting with advanced-stage disease are common and the risk of recurrence after treatment of early-stage cancer is also high. Like other cancers, lung cancers are treated with surgery, radiation, and systemic therapy [which includes chemotherapy]. Improvement in tools that aid in diagnosis like PET-CT scans, molecular testing, and surgery [eg.
minimally invasive techniques like Robotic surgery, VATS] and radiation therapy [stereotactic radiation] have improved outcomes as well as decreased complications of treatment. Patients who are diagnosed to have early-stage lung cancer have a chance of cure, after stan.