HYDERABAD: New York Rapper Hurricane G, known for songs including El Barrio and Underground Lockdown, recently died after a battle with lung cancer. The untimely death of the Hit Squad member has worried doctors pushing people to realise that lung cancer is more common than one can think. This Lung Cancer Awareness Month, we speak to experts who share ways to keep the illness at bay.
Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the developed world and is responsible for most cancer deaths. To put it in perspective, it accounts for 11.6 per cent of all new cancer cases worldwide and is responsible for 18.4% of all cancer deaths. In India, it ranks fourth amongst all cancers, second in males and sixth among females!
“Smoking tobacco is a primary factor for causing cancer with the risk increasing with the number of pack years smoked etc. Exposed non-smokers also have an increased risk from second-hand smoke. It is responsible for 85-90 per cent of cases of lung cancer,” says Dr Vipin Goyal, senior consultant & robotic surgical oncologist at Care Hospital, Banjara Hills.
Broadly, lung cancer is divided into two types — small cell and non-small cell. Most cases are usually present in advanced stages (80-90 per cent). The common symptoms are persistent cough, breathlessness, chest pain and blood in the sputum.
Spread to distant organs may also occur which may lead to bone pains due to the spread to bones and seizures, loss of consciousness or weakness of one half of the body due to brain metastases and jaundice due to liver metastases. In the early stages, the disease is usually picked up during evaluation for some other cause, he tells CE.
The primary steps in evaluation are biopsy or CT scans of the chest and abdomen. “In the early stages, surgery is considered as it offers the best chance of cure. For a patient to be fit for lung surgery (lobectomy/pneumonectomy) they would have to fulfil fitness criteria as prescribed by the physician. Post-surgery chemotherapy is usually given in stages II and beyond.
In those patients who are medically inoperable stereotactic radiotherapy is an option. Combined modality treatment with radiation and chemotherapy is usually offered in stage III. 30 to 55% of patients would still have a recurrence of the disease even after curative surgery,” the doctor shares.
The need of the hour is to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and prediction of lung cancer as it is the leading cause of cancer deaths all over the world, says Dr Srikanth Marda, paediatric Hematologist and oncologist, Ankura Hospital for Women and Children. He adds, “While 90% of lung cancers are caused by cigarette smoking, other risk factors are second-hand smoke, living in heavily polluted areas, exposure to hazardous chemicals like asbestos, arsenic, soot, and tar, etc. Common symptoms include hacking cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing up blood, unexplained weight loss and lethargy. Prevention is superior to cure and the best way is to quit smoking and spread awareness.”
Risk factors
■ Smoking
■ Radiation treatment
■ Being exposed to radon gas
■ Hereditary lung cancer history
■ Exposure to carcinogens
Precautions
■ High-risk population needs to undergo lung cancer screening CT
■ Avoid every form of tobacco
■ Early diagnosis is the key to cure
Care
■ Regular check-ups
■ Day-to-day help
■ Emotional support
■ Support groups
—Dr Hari Kishan Gonuguntla, consultant interventional pulmonologist, Yashoda Hospitals, Secunderabad