Lung Cancer Flashcards
What are the three most common cancers?
1) prostate
2) breast
3) Lung
What are the three main types of Non-small cell lung cancers?
1) Adenocarcinoma (most common)
2) Squamous cell carcinoma
3) Large-cell carcinoma
What are small cell carcinomas?
- Cancer cells contain neurosecretory granules which release neuroendocrine hormones
- They are the cause for multiple paraneoplastic syndromes
What are the signs/symptoms of lung cancer?
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Haemoptysis
- Finger clubbing
- Recurrent pneumonia
- Weight loss
- Lymphadenopathy
What is the first line investigation procedure for lung cancer?
CXR
- Hilar enlargement
- Peripheral opacity
- Pleural effusion
- Collapse
What investigations can be done to assess lung cancer?
- CXR
- Staging CT scan
- PET-CT
- Bronchoscopy
- Histological diagnosis
What can a Staging CT tell you about lung cancer?
- Used to assess metastasis especially lymph nodes
- CT is contrast enhanced to give more detail
How do PET-CT scans work?
- Inject radioactive tracer
- Images are taken using a CT scanner and gamma ray detector
- used to assess how metabolically active tissues are
- increased metabolic activity in an area suggests cancer
How is bronchoscopy used to assess lung cancer?
- endoscopy of bronchial with ultrasound at the end of the scope
- ovation an ultrasound guided biopsy which can then be assessed to find cancer cell type
What are the treatment options for long cancer?
1) Surgery
2) Radiotherapy
3) Chemotherapy
4) Endobronchial treatment
What is the first line treatment for small cell carcinomas?
- Chemotherapy and radiotherapy
- prognosis usually worse than non-small cell
What is the first line treatment option for non-small cell carcinomas?
Surgery
- used to cure cancer
- Can either do a lobectomy (Removal of lobe) or segmentectomy (removal of segment)
When are radiotherapy and chemotherapy used in non-small cell carcinomas?
- Radiotherapy for early stage non-small cell carcinoma to cure cancer
- Chemotherapy used as addition to Radiotherapy or surgery to improve outcomes or as palliative care to improve survival and quality of life in non-small cell
What is endobronchial treatment and what’s the purpose?
- palliative treatment to relieve bronchial obstruction
- stents or debulking used to reduce obstruction
What are some of the extra pulmonary manifestations caused by lung cancer and what are they caused by?
- Recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (tumour pressing on Laryngeal nerve)
- Phrenic nerve palsy (nerve compression causes diaphragm weakness presents as breathlessness)
- Superior vena cava obstruction (tumour compresses SVC)
- Horners syndrome (Pancoast tumour presses on sympathetic ganglion)
