Lung Cancer Overview & Introduction - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Cancers

Lung Cancer Overview

Overview:
Lung cancer is a form of cancer that develops within the lung tissues. Like any other type of cancer, lung cancer starts in the cells. Normally, the lung’s cells grow and divide in a regulated manner (only a specific number of cells are produced in order to keep the lungs healthy and functioning properly). When this process is impaired, the lung’s cells grow and divide uncontrollably and in an exaggerated fashion which cause tumors to form.

There are two types of tumors: benign (the term that refers to a non-cancerous mass or growth which is not life threatening) and malignant (the term that refers to a cancerous mass or growth which can invade and destroy the adjacent tissues and organs inside the body causing death).

The lungs are two sponge-like organs with a cone shape. There is a slight difference between the lungs, the right lung is larger in size than the left one because the right lung has three lobes and the left lung only two lobes.

The lungs are part of the body’s respiratory system. Their principal function is to transport the oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream and to excrete carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. The oxygen is vital for the body’s cells.

Their secondary function, (called non-respiratory function) is divided at three levels: 1) it regulates the concentration of biologically active substances and drugs used in medicine in arterial blood, 2) it filters small blood clots that form in veins, and 3) it protects the heart (by being a physical layer of soft, shock-absorbent organs).

Article by Alina Morrow, MS
Medical Writer
OmniMedicalSearch.com