Question

You are performing an initial health history of a 58-year-old Hispanic male who is a new patient at the clinic. His wife is with him in the examination room. He has a persistent cough and this morning noticed that he had specks of blood when he coughed. He says he has always had a bit of a cough, but it seemed to get worse about a year ago, but he never really worried about it, because he thought it was just bronchitis-like he had a couple of years ago. He is a long-time smoker since he was 16 years of age and smokes a little less than two packs of cigarettes per day. His wife states that he seems to be getting thinner and he is definitely more short of breath while playing baseball with the grandchildren. His wife is very concerned that her husband has developed lung cancer.

How might this patient have developed lung cancer?

Answer 1

Cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for lung cancer. Tobacco smoke is a toxic mixture of about 7000 chemicals, among which about 70 of them are known to be potential carcinogens. Cigarette smoke when enters the lungs, damanges the cells lining and the carcinogenous substances in the smoke cause the changes in the lung tissue. Initially when the damage occurs, our body activates the mechanisms to repair the damage, but when the lung tissue is repeatedly affected by the detrimental effect of the cigarette smoke, the normal cells are subjected to increased damage, such damage may lead to the abnormal activity of the cells which eventually develops into a cancer.

In the above case the patient was almost smoking 2 packets of cigarettes daily for about 42 years. Due to the effect of cigarette smoke the pateints lung tissue was subjected to repeated damage and was easily subjected to infection. Due to infection, inflammations and swellings of the bronchial tubes the patient suffered with bronchitis, which accelerated the damage to his lung tissue.

The patient presented with symptoms of

Shortness of breadth as the cancer grows to block the major airways. Lung cancer can also cause fluid to accumulate around the lungs, making it harder for the affected lung to expand fully when you inhale.

Coughing of blood due to bleeding in the airways, because of the tissue damage.

Weight Loss due to loss of appetite and the weakness due to ill health and malnutrition.

Chronic cigarette smoking along with bronchitis has caused intense damage to lung tissue and carcinogens in the cigarette smoke caused abnormal activity of the cells leading to lung cancer.