does race paly a key role in lung cancer risk
...e than two weeks, persistent chest, shoulder, or back pain unrelated to pain from coughing, change in color of sputum, blood in sputum, wheezing, difficult or labored breathing, shortness of breath, stridor (a harsh sound with each breath), loss of appetite, neck and facial swelling, and unexplained weight loss (Henschke, McCarthy, and Wernick 19). Signs and symptoms may not even appear until the disease has reached an advanced stage. By the time many do go to the doctor, it is too late to treat the lung cancer and may have only a few months before the cancer takes their lives. They are also afraid of what others may think about them. People sometimes think that cancer is contagious and they will get it if they are around someone stricken with the disease too much, but it is not true. Others may be worried because they know that they can not afford to undergo surgery or afford the examination and drug treatment such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. One possible reason African Americans are less likely to have surgery is a belief that air exposure during lung cancer surgery might cause the tumor to spread. A recent study found that 19 percent of African American lung cancer patients at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center stated that this belief was one of the reasons for opposing surgery. Statistics had shown that 14 percent would not accept their physician’s assurance that lung cancer surgery does not have this effect. Several of these African American patients asserted that this belief was common in the African American community. If the cancer has not spread, removing the tumor by surgery is the most common form of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. If the cancer has not been detected early enough, the cancer may spread and surgery may not be possible. The only options left for the African Americans would be radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which can be used to control symptoms by reducing the size of the tumor. Radiotherapy is a general term for the treatment of cancer using x-rays. It is done by directing high-energy beams at the areas of the lung that need treatment. Radiotherapy works by killing cancerous cells and can be used either on its own or in combination with surgery and chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the general term for the treatment of cancer using drugs. The drugs that are used are designed to kill off cancer cells while causing less damage to normal cells. There are many different types of chemotherapy drugs which can be used on their own, or more commonly, in combinations. Patients with different types of lung cancer are likely to receive different combinations of chemotherapy drugs. The African American population has a low income rate which has contributed to a lack of knowledge of cancer. Low income has been blamed by many health experts as a contribution to cancer in African Americans. This low income rate may also mean less access to information. Even though the internet is considered as a very important source of information about health, diseases and healthy lifestyles, only 23.5% of the African American population had Internet access at home in 2004 while Caucasian households accounted for 46.1% during the same year. These concerns have put African Americans at the top of the list for lung cancer. More than 87% of lung cancers are smoking related, meaning that 13% of African Americans may get it from high pollution levels around the home or work place. Exposure to other carcinogens such as asbestos and radon gas also increases an individual's risk, especially when combined with cigarette or cigar smoking. More than half of African Americans live within the boundaries of polluted cities such as Los Angeles, California. Many African Americans live close to the major expressways where vehicles that travel the road leave toxic fumes floating in the air that causes the pollution to get even heavier. Also, the construction of major expressways and other buildings can cause toxic fumes to travel miles down the road and pollute the city even more. Not only is the location of their home near polluted areas bad for their health, but many African Americans are employed in occupations where there are strong concentrations of pollutants. African Americans seem to carry most of the burden when it comes down to occupational hazards and cancer-causing jobs. Statistics from 2005 have shown that a proportion of African Americans have always held the most toxically dangerous industrial jobs. This alone exposes African Americans to unusually high amounts of carcinogens. More directly causative of lung cancer is a high fat, high cholesterol diet, and genetics. In a Chicago survey of 876 smokers, in African Americans with cholesterol levels of 275 mg% (7.0 mm/L) the lung cancer rate was 37 per thousand (Bowie). For African Americans with cholesterol levels of 225 mg% (5.77 m/L) the lung cancer rate was only five ...