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Your right lung has three parts (lobes). Your left lung is smaller and has two lobes. Inside the chest are two thin layers of tissue (the pleura). One layer covers the lungs and the other layer lines the inside of your chest. Cancer Cells Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up all tissues and organs of the body, including the lungs. Normal cells in the lungs and other parts of the body grow and divide to form new cells as they are needed. When normal cells grow old or get damaged, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes, this process goes wrong. New cells form when the body doesn’t need them, and old or damaged cells don’t die as they should. The buildup of extra cells often forms a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. Tumors in the lung can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer): ■ Benign tumors: • Are rarely a threat to life • Don’t invade the tissues around them • Don’t spread to other parts of the body • Usually don’t need to be removed ■ Malignant tumors (lung cancer): • May be a threat to life • Can invade nearby organs and tissues 3 • Can spread to other parts of the body • Often can be removed but may grow back Lung cancer cells can spread by breaking away from a lung tumor. They can travel through blood vessels or lymph vessels to reach other parts of the body. After spreading, cancer cells may attach to other tissues and grow to form new tumors that may damage those tissues. When lung cancer spreads from its original place to another part of the body, the new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary (original) tumor. For example, if lung cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are actually lung cancer cells. The disease is metastatic lung cancer, not bone cancer. For that reason, it is treated as lung cancer, not bone cancer. Types of Lung Cancer In 2012, more than 226,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer. The most common types are named for how the lung cancer cells look under a microscope: ■ Small cell: The cells of small cell lung cancer look small under a microscope. About 1 of every 8 people with lung cancer has small cell lung cancer. ■ Non-small cell: The cells of non-small cell lung cancer are larger than the cells of small cell lung cancer. Most (about 7 of every 8) people diagnosed with lung cancer have non-small cell lung cancer. It doesn’t grow and spread as fast as small cell lung cancer, and it’s treated differently.
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