Lung cancer kills Rush Limbaugh. What are the symptoms?

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Rush Limbaugh, whose death was announced Wednesday, died just a year after revealing his diagnosis of advanced lung cancer.

He is the second high profile patient to die from the disease this month. Small cell carcinoma, a type of lung cancer, has been blamed for the death of “Saved by the Bell” star Dustin Diamond, at 44, on February 1.

“He was diagnosed with this brutal and relentless form of malignant cancer just three weeks ago. During that time, he managed to quickly spread throughout his system, ”Roger Paul, a spokesperson for the actor, told NBC News.

The disease is wreaking havoc in Americans: Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men and women in the United States. It is also the leading cause of death from cancer.

What are the types of lung cancer?

Most people think of lung cancer as a single disease, but there are actually two main types, which develop differently:

Non-small cell lung cancer: it is the most common type, accounting for 80 to 85% of cases, according to the American Cancer Society.

Small cell lung cancer: it’s much rarer, accounting for about 10-15% of all cases, but it grows and spreads faster than the other type. By the time most patients are diagnosed, this cancer will have metastasized outside the lungs. He’s the guy identified as the cause of Diamond’s death.

It’s unclear what type of Limbaugh had, but the two were diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer – with the disease discovered after it had already spread.

What causes lung cancer?

About 80% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking, and many more are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, the American Cancer Society noted.

Current and former smokers are at the highest risk for small cell lung cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Although it is rare for a non-smoker to be diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, it can happen.

Other risk factors include advanced age; have a family history of lung cancer; exposure to asbestos, arsenic, chromium, beryllium, nickel, soot or tar in the workplace; being exposed to radiation from radiation therapy, certain imaging tests or radon gas at home or at work; air pollution or HIV infection.

Sometimes lung cancer strikes people without known risk factors for the disease. “There is a stigma associated with lung cancer, where people think, ‘If someone has never smoked, they would never get lung cancer,'” said Dr Helena Yu, medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

What are the symptoms of lung cancer?

Early stage lung cancer that has not spread often has no symptoms. When warning signs appear, the American Lung Association says they include:

• a cough that doesn’t go away and gets worse over time
• hoarseness
• chest pain often worsened by deep breathing, coughing, or laughing
• shortness of breath or wheezing
• frequent lung infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia
• cough up blood
• loss of appetite
• unexplained weight loss
• fatigue – Limbaugh had said he started to feel bad before his diagnosis.

There is no good way to check for lung cancer early. Right now, the best advice is to get screened for lung cancer every year if you have a history of heavy smoking and are 55 or older, according to experts.

what is the treatement?

Small cell lung cancer grows quickly, so it usually responds well to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Surgery, immunotherapy, and laser therapy can also be used.

Non-small cell lung cancer has these and other treatment options, including targeted therapy, cryosurgery, photodynamic therapy, and electrocautery. Combining treatments may be more effective than relying on a single approach.

Lung cancer is treatable but not curable, so it can come back.

What is the survival rate for lung cancer?

More than half, 56%, of people whose lung cancer is caught before it spreads to other parts of the body live five years after diagnosis, according to the American Lung Association.

This number drops to 5% for patients whose lung cancer has spread to other organs. More than half of people with lung cancer die within a year of diagnosis.