Almost 45,000 people in Ireland are diagnosed with both invasive and non-invasive tumours each year,
Cancer occurs when cells grow uncontrollably and amass into a tumour. Over time this can break apart and spread to other parts of the body.
Lung cancer is the 5th most common cancer in Ireland, with almost 2,700 people being diagnosed each year, and it affects both women and men, usually over the age of 50.
Lung cancer can be treated with surgery, drug therapies and radiotherapy, depending on the type and where it is found.
Early diagnosis is key in the treatment of cancer as it dramatically increases the likelihood of a positive outcome for the patient.
Lung cancer, in particular, has one symptom that can often be dismissed.
One warning sign of lung cancer is a recurring chest infection which can be identified as a chesty cough, wheezing and shortness of breath, chest pain or discomfort, high temperature, headache, aching muscles and tiredness.
As most chest infections resolve within ten days, people can often turn a blind eye to having multiple bouts of the illness within one year.
However, if you have recurring chest infections, you should notify your doctor immediately.
A recurring cough is also another possible sign of cancer.
If a cough fails to resolve after three weeks, you should notify your doctor.
Other symptoms of lung cancer include:
- Coughing up blood
- An ache or pain when breathing or coughing
- Persistent breathlessness
- Persistent tiredness or lack of energy
- Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss.
- Wheezing
- A hoarse voice
- Swelling of your face or neck
- Persistent chest or shoulder pain.
To prevent lung cancer, people should avoid smoking, passive smoking, the inhalation of chemicals, air pollution and radon gas.
Smoking causes about 9 in every ten lung cancers. The risk increases with the amount of time you have smoked, the number of cigarettes you have smoked and if you started young. Low-tar cigarettes do not reduce your risk.
Those who smoke pipes and cigars have a lower risk of lung cancer than cigarette smokers, but they are at a much greater risk than non-smokers.
