What Is the Doubling Speed for small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer was first recognized in the 1880s. However it wasn't until the 1950s that's has been associated to cigarette smoking. One of the biggest concerns is how quickly it can spread throughout the body. The quicker it spreads, the more painful treatment options can be.

Lung cancer types

There are two basic types of lung cancer which are as follows:

• Non-small cell carcinoma: There are 3 kinds or tumors that fall into this category: squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large-cell carcinoma.
• Small-cell carcinoma: 20 to 25 percent of all lung cancers are considered small-cell. The cells have small, round shapes. It's the most aggressive lung cancer type and spreads quickly, many times before symptoms appear. It's also called oat-cell carcinoma because the cells tend to resemble oat grains when observed through a microscope.

In this article we will primarily be discussing the effects of small cell lung cancer.

How long does it take small cell tumors to grow?

The doubling speed of a small cell tumor is the time it takes to double the number of cells or size. It usually varies, but can take as little as eight days up to 700 days. The doubling time is not only reflective of the rate that the tumor is growing, but also the loss of healthy cells.

As you can see it's hard to pinpoint exactly how much time you have before it becomes deadly. This is why it's extremely important to make a diagnosis while it's still in the early stages and start treatment as soon as possible. Many times if you wait for the symptoms or signs to appear, it may be too late.

What are the early symptoms of lung cancer?

Many times in the earliest stages you will experience no symptoms at all, which can make it difficult to diagnose. However it becomes easier in the latter stages. These symptoms are as follows:

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pains
• Coughing
• Blood in the sputum
• Pneumonia
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss

Since these symptoms usually occur in the more advanced stages, you need to see a doctor as soon as you experience any of these symptoms. Time is of the essence and it's important to start receiving treatment as soon as possible

Small cell lung cancer treatment

The preferred treatment for non-small cell cancer is surgery. If a person has heart or respiratory diseases, their ability to tolerate surgery might be limited. Also if the cancer is located near any major organs, surgery should not be used.

In cases where a person has small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy is the preferred method. Patients tend to respond better to radiation then surgery.

Perhaps the best treatment is simply prevention. It's no secret that smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. However cancer isn't the only negative byproduct of smoking. For more information on all the health problems that cigarettes cause, please visit our Effects of Smoking page. We are a website that's dedicated to helping people quit smoking.