Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in one or both lungs. These cells can multiply rapidly and turn into tumors that interfere with the function of the lungs and, eventually, spread to other parts of the body.

Lung cancer is the second most common kind of cancer diagnosed in the United States, and accounts for nearly a third of all cancer deaths. Most people who get lung cancer were cigarette smokers, but non-smokers get it too. Exposure to radon, asbestos, and secondhand smoke are also risk factors. In some cases, there is no known cause.

One of the challenging aspects of lung cancer is that it may be years before symptoms emerge. By the time it's diagnosed, about half the patients have cancer that's already spread outside the lungs.

The Thoracic Oncology Clinic and Thoracic Surgery Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at Mount Zion use many approaches for treatment — combining surgery, radiation and chemotherapy — for conditions, including esophageal cancer and mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer in the lining of the chest or abdomen. Other cancers treated include chest-wall cancers and mediastinal tumors in the cavity separating the lungs as well as tumors that spread to the lungs from other parts of the body.

These specialists of the thorax — the chest area between the neck and abdomen — also treat a spectrum of pulmonary diseases as well as benign conditions such as hyperhidrosis, which causes over-activity of the sweat glands and excessive sweating.

Visit our online bookstore to see books written and recommended by the staff of the UCSF Cancer Resource Center.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated September 2, 2008