คอลัมน์ : สุขภาพดีกับรามาฯ ผู้เขียน : รศ.พญ.ธัญนันท์ ใบสมุทร (เรืองเวทย์วัฒนา) สาขาวิชามะเร็งวิทยา ภาควิชาอายุรศาสตร์ คณะแพทยศาสตร์โรงพยาบาลรามาธิบดี ม.มหิดล
Lung cancer is one of the top 5 most common cancers in Thailand. And the number of new patients each year is very high. Most patients are diagnosed and treated when they are in stage 3-4 of the disease because some patients in the early stages are asymptomatic.
Cause of lung cancer
smoking or being exposed to cigarette smoke or have been exposed to carcinogenic substances for a long time It is an important cause of small cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
There are certain gene mutations in the body. or there is a switch of some genes that causes cells to grow into lung cancer cells adenocarcinoma genes such as EGFR, ALK, KRAS, BRAF, HER2, RET, ROS, MET and NTRK genes are not associated with familial inheritance.
PM 2.5 dust has begun with preliminary research findings. When directly inhaled, it causes inflammation in the respiratory system. which may be associated with the incidence of lung cancer, however, this hypothesis still requires more research
The symptoms of the disease depend on the location of the tumor, for example, if it is near the arteries and bronchial tubes, it may be tired, coughing up blood, if it is in the bones, there will be severe bone pain. If it is in the liver, there will be abdominal pain, enlarged liver and abnormal liver function. If it is in the brain, there will be weakness in the limbs, etc.
which are common, for example, having a cough for a long time, chronic cough, may have sputum mixed with blood, tiredness, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, frequent infectious pneumonia
stage of disease
Phase 1 In the early stages, cancer cells are found in the lungs. Usually there are no symptoms that show the abnormality.
Phase 2 The stage where it has spread to the pulmonary lymph nodes.
Phase 3 Cancer cells in the lungs begin to emerge from the central thoracic lymph nodes.
Phase 4 The stage has spread to other organs such as bones, adrenal glands and brain.