Cancer is defined as an abnormal cell growth or a disruption the normal division and growth of cells. The aberant cell growth leads to the formation of masses or tumors which can be benign, in which case they are harmless, ot they can be malignant and invasive. In the lungs there can be 2 types of cancer depending on the appearance of malignant cells, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. About 80% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers and of those 30% are squamous cell lung cancers.



Squamous cell lung cancers begin in the bronchial tubes and they usually show signs such as coughing up blood early on. There has been a decrease in the number of cases of this type of cancer, which has been attributed to the introduction of filtered cigarettes. If discovered in the early stages this type of cancer can be removed through surgery. Even when tumors are successfully removed through surgery the risk remains; there is a possibility that cancer may return.

It is possible that cancer cells remain behind the surgery; doctors try to prevent this by also removing healthy tissue from around the tumor or by recommending chemotherapy after surgery. Also it is possible for malignant cell to spread to the tissues of other neighboring organs or to travel through the lympahtic or blood system ta another, more distant part of the body. When this has happened the cancer becomes more difficult to treat, because therapies recommended have to be able to focus on several tumors, possibly even in several areas of the body. At the advanced stages the treatments no longer focus on healing but on alleviating symptoms.

Squamous cell lung cancers usually grow quicly and spread into surrounding tissues. If it spreads throught eh blood system tumors may apear in oragns like the liver, the adrenal glands, in the bones, as well as in the brain. Spreading to those organs may cause additional unpleasant symptoms, such as pain in the bones. If cancer has metastasied to the brain symptoms like difficulty with vision, weakness, headaches or seizures may occur.

Accurately diagnosing lung cancer is extremely important, because treatment options will differ greatly from one stage to another. Also knowing as much as possible about your illness is very important. Knowing the appropriate information can help you help yourself and your doctor when making his decisions. Also knowing the appropriate information is also important for your family, so that they know what to expect and how to give you the best care they can. Setting appropriate expectations is important especially in the later stages of lung cancer. Discussing expectations will be hard which is why support groups can prove to be very helpful for many cases.