Lung Cancer in Women Sample

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Lung Cancer in Women The primary risk factor of lung cancer in women is smoking; approximately 85% of lung cancer cases can be explained by smoking (Gulyn and Youssef, 2010). It is unclear if the remaining 15% of cases are due to exposure to second-hand smoke or other factors; but most nonsmokers diagnosed with cancer are women (Gulyn and Youssef, 2010). Lung cancer kills more than twice as many women as breast cancer, and more women than breast cancer, cervical cancer, uterine cancer, and ovarian cancer combined (Gulyn and Youssef. 2010). Lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer, with nearly 90% of patients dying within 2 years of diagnosis, in large part because it tends to be diagnosed late (Gulyn and Youssef, 2010). Signs and Symptoms Initial presentation of lung cancer, regardless of gender, tend to be nonspecific, as a chronic or new cough in 65% to 75% of cases, with 25% or more having a productive cough (Yoder, 2006). Since lung cancer often occurs in central airways it can also present as pneumonia and lymph enlargement; hemoptysis will occur in 20% to 30% of patients. Other symptoms include dyspnea , with 60% of patients developing it early and 65% developing it at some time during their illness (Yoder, 2006). About 50% of patients present initially with chest pain (Yoder, 2006). The most frequent symptoms of lung cancer are fatigue during chemotherapy (97% of patients), pain (67% of patients), and insomnia (51% of patients, whether male or female. These symptoms tend to occur simultaneously throughout early chemotherapy (Yoder, 2006). Lung cancer is often diagnosed very late, often past the time when there are effective treatments for the disease (Gulyn and Youssef, 2010). The disease is not reliably detected with X-rays though CT scans can detect some early-stage disease. Research has not yet determined if the risk of annual CT scans is

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