▶ Worldwide, 2.2 million people are diagnosed and 1.8 million people die every year.
▶ The main factor is smoking… Rapid increase in young people between 20 and 30 years old
▶There are many cases of women who do not smoke due to cooking fumes.
Every year, March 21 is designated “Cancer Awareness Day” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Among these, lung cancer has the highest mortality rate, with 2.2 million cases occurring each year and 1.8 million deaths worldwide.
According to the “Proportion of Major Cancer Deaths in 2022” reported by the National Cancer Center, 83,378 (22.4%) of the total deaths (372,939) died of cancer. Among them, lung cancer deaths accounted for 18,584 (22.3%), ranking first among cancer deaths. Recently, unlike before, when about 70% of lung cancer patients were smokers, lung cancer among non-smokers is increasing. In particular, as the age of cancer onset is getting lower, the number of lung cancer patients among young people in their 20s and 30s is increasing.
Lung cancer has few early symptoms that patients are aware of, so it is often diagnosed after the disease has already progressed to some extent, so the survival rate is much lower than that of other cancers, making early diagnosis very important. Therefore, to protect lung health, it is best to undergo regular checkups.
The lungs are an essential organ responsible for breathing, obtaining oxygen, and expelling carbon dioxide through inhaling and exhaling air. When abnormal cancer cells in the lung proliferate uncontrollably and form a mass, this leads to lung cancer.
The main cause of lung cancer is smoking and it is often misunderstood that non-smokers do not develop lung cancer. However, lung cancer can also occur due to environmental exposure (exposure to asbestos, heavy metals, radioactive substances, particulate matter, etc.) or genetic factors. Additionally, the incidence of lung cancer in women is increasing due to cooking fumes generated during cooking. Therefore, if you are exposed to these types of situations, it is good to pay attention to lung cancer screening.
Lung cancer is divided into small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer depending on the histological type. In general, it is known that more than 85% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers. It grows at a slower rate than small cell lung cancer and spreads to surrounding tissues and then metastasizes throughout the body.
Adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer occurring in young people, is found mostly at the edge of the lung and has few symptoms. It occurs more often in non-smokers, and the percentage of lung cancer patients in women is higher than in men. Large cell carcinoma is the rarest type of lung cancer, and its clinical features are similar to adenocarcinoma.
Lung cancer is often found limited to the lungs, but progresses rapidly and can spread not only to the lungs but also to the rest of the body, including the bones, liver and spinal cord, through the lymph nodes and blood, so it is diagnosed early . it’s important. However, the problem is that the lungs have no nerves, so even if the cancer grows, there are no symptoms. Most patients, 80%, are diagnosed with advanced, terminal cancer. After diagnosis, the 5-year survival rate declines rapidly to less than 30%.
If lung cancer is detected at an early stage when surgery is possible, the 5-year survival rate increases to 61%, so regular screening and early diagnosis are important.
Existing diagnosis of lung cancer used image analysis methods such as chest x-ray and computed tomography (CT), sputum cytology, and biopsy. However, there are risks such as radiation exposure, contrast media side effects, and invasiveness of the testing method, and blood tests using a single marker (CEA, Cyfra 21-1, etc.) have a high false positive rate, so they can only be used for limited purposes.
Recently, the “non-small cell lung cancer risk test” that complements the limitations of existing lung cancer tests is attracting attention. Non-small cell lung cancer risk testing has the advantage of being highly accurate using multiple biomarkers and being as simple as a liquid biopsy-based blood test.
Seven types of biomarkers (C9, CA6, EGFR1, MMP7, SERPINA3, KIT, and CRP) in the blood of people with lung nodules were quantified using an aptamer-based liquid bead microarray method and applied to the algorithm. Provides information about your risk of non-small cell lung cancer.
The test’s effectiveness has been demonstrated with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 92% and has received approval as an in vitro diagnostic medical device from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Another advantage is that there is no risk of radiation exposure since it is a non-invasive blood test.
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