Lung Cancer Risk Factors and Symptoms

Risk Factors

Lung cancer is an abnormal growth of cells that originates in the lung and can spread and grow to other parts of the body without any kind of normal regulation by the body or its normal immune system. Risk factors for lung cancer include tobacco smoke, asbestos, certain types of chemicals, and radon exposure. The substances that act on the lung, primarily tobacco smoke, are full of things called carcinogens, which act on the cells in the lung to cause them to grow abnormally and cause them to become cancerous.

Symptoms

By the time that lung cancer causes symptoms for people to look for, often times it's very advanced and it's among the most poorly treatable types of lung cancers. Types of symptoms that people do have include chest pain, coughing up of blood, a non-productive cough that never stops, chest wall pain or pressure, or just a funny feeling in the chest that persists and doesn't go away.