Cancer is a disease whose risk increases with time. But what happens when it develops in the lung?
With almost 53,000 new cases in 2023 in France, lung cancer is the 2nd most common cancer in men and the 3rd in women. Its main risk factor is smoking: 80% of lung cancers are attributable to tobacco and all forms of tobacco are concerned (cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, hookah, cannabis, etc.). Passive smoking also increases the risk of cancer. But this is not the only factor observed by doctors. Advancing age also increases the probability of having cancer. The more time passes, the more the number of lesions likely to accumulate in cells increases. The risk of developing lung cancer increases significantly if you smoke, depending on how long you have smoked, at what age you started smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked each day and if you have other risk factors (personal or family history, exposure to irritating substances… ). “The occurrence of lung cancer remains quite late since it is in the majority of cases linked to exposure to tobacco of sufficient duration so that it could cause a tumor, warns him Professor Jesus Gonzalez, pulmonologist at the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital and President of the French-Language Pneumology Society (SPLF).
It does not cause specific symptoms in the early stages.
“Tars from tobacco burning lead to an accumulation of DNA mutations. By changing, DNA cells can turn into cancer cells throughout exposure to tobacco smoke“, explains Dr Maurice Pérol, medical oncologist specializing in thoracic cancers at the Léon Bérard Center in Lyon. It is therefore a cancer that most often affects people over 60 years old. The National Cancer Institute (Inca) estimates the median age at diagnosis to be:
- 68 years old in man
- 66 years old in women
No specific symptoms at first
Another reason why lung cancer is more of a cancer in the elderly, is that it is often diagnosed late. Early diagnosis is difficult to make. “Sometimes lung cancer has been developing for several months or even one or two years, but it does not cause specific symptoms at an early stage. These often appear late. For years, the body resists until it can no longer do so. A lung represents 6 liters of volume, so we can imagine that for there to be any discomfort, the tumor must already be large. This is why 3/4 of lung cancers discovered in France are detected at a metastatic state“, describes Professor Gonzalez.
A cough that persists and intensifies, coughing up blood, persistent pain in the chest, sudden loss of appetite and weight, chronic fatigue, difficult breathing or repeated bronchitis should lead to to consult your general practitioner who will carry out an initial clinical examination and can then refer you to a specialist or prescribe tests if cancer is suspected.
- Panorama of Cancers in France Edition 2023 – Inca
- Screening for lung cancer in smokers – University Center for General Medicine and Public Health (Lausanne)