A study has been conducted by team of doctors from Medanta Gurugram, India that suggests possible increase in non-smokers and women lung cancer cases. Dr. Arvind Kumar and his team studied 304 lung cancer patients and found an overall increase in the incidence of lung cancer in men and women. The hospital has launched #BeatLungCancer campaign to create awareness about this deadly disease.
In this study, they found that nearly 50% of the patients were non-smokers and of these, 70% were in younger than 50 years of age group and 100 % of the patients less than 30 years were non-smokers. The study also found that over 80% of patients were diagnosed in the advanced stage of cancer where complete treatment becomes difficult and intent of treatment gets restricted to palliative. The team discovered that majority of patients presented with Adenocarcinoma against Squamous Carcinoma that dominated earlier reports. Adenocarcinoma forms when the cells lining the outside of lungs become cancerous while Squamous Carcinoma impacts the cells that line the surface of airways. This new study indicates that in the coming decade, we are likely to see an increase in number of non-smoking lung cancer patients among women in the younger age group.
The researchers said that they will share their findings with cancer institute and hospitals and continue to study clinical outcomes of treatment for lung cancer patients. Doctors believe that the increase in incidence of lung cancer among non-smokers may be linked to air pollution levels across the country. the Chairman of the Institute of Chest surgery, Chest Onco-surgery and Lung Transplantation at Medanta hospital Gurugram, Dr Arvind Kumar said, “I am shocked at the alarming rise in Lung cancer cases and occurrences in younger individuals, non-smokers, and women. Lung cancer is a dreaded-disease, with one of the lowest 5-year survival rates”.
The study suggests that there is urgent need to raise awareness about lung cancer risk across different sections of the society. Effective measures to reduce tobacco consumption and control air pollution help in controlling the rising graph of lung cancer cases.
The information shared in this blog is for educational purposes only. You should always consult your healthcare professional for any medical needs.
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