Small cell lung cancer is an aggressive form of lung cancer that grows quickly and often spreads to other parts of the body early. It makes up about 15% of lung cancer cases and starts in the center of the chest. Symptoms include coughing, weight loss, and shortness of breath. Tests like CT scans and biopsies are used to diagnose small cell lung cancer and determine staging. Treatment involves chemotherapy, radiation, and sometimes surgery, though the prognosis is poor with only 6% of patients surviving more than 5 years after diagnosis. The author's mother passed away from small cell lung carcinoma in 2011.

1. Kelly Cooper 1
Small squamous Cell Cancer
Intro to Human Diseases
Instructor: Dr. Leigh Harrell
Written by: Kelly Cooper
Due: 06/06/2012

2. Kelly Cooper 2
Small cell lung cancer is a very fast-growing cancer of lung and is more aggressive at
spreading then the non-small cell lung cancer. In the lung cancer cases only about 15% are
Small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer has 3 different types which are: Small cell
carcinoma, mixed small cell/large cell carcinoma, and combined small cell carcinoma. Small
cell lung cancer is seen a bit more in men than in women and most cases are due to smoking
cigarettes.According toDugdale (2012), “Commonly the small cell lung cancer starts in the
bronchi in the center of the chest, which metastasize throughout the body, normally the brain,
liver, and bone are the ones most affected by small cell lung cancer”.
A patient that has this disease will show symptoms like bloody sputum, chest pain,
coughing, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, weight loss, wheezing, facial swelling, fever,
hoarseness or changing in the vocal chords, swallowing difficulty, and weakness and fatigue.
The patient must be seen by their primary care physician as soon as possible so tests can be
performed to diagnose properly and to treat aggressively if this is possible with the patient.
The tests that help us detect this disease and know what stage the patient is dealing with
include: bone scan, chest x-ray, complete blood count, CT scan, liver function tests, MRI, PET
scan, Sputum test, Thoracentesis (removal of fluid from the chest cavity around the lungs),
bronchoscopy combined with biopsy, CT scan-directed needle biopsy, Endoscopic esophageal
ultrasound with biopsy, Open lung biopsy, and aPlueral biopsy. They have many different ways
of testing due to individual patient health risks. Some patients may be more susceptible to
infection and higher risks and lack of healing like my mother. My mother ended up losing her
battle withsmall cell lung carcinoma due to onset of pneumonia on February 1st 2011.

3. Kelly Cooper 3
Treatment of the SCLC is necessary and imperative to start immediately due to how fast
this disease spreads throughout the body. Time is not on the patient’s side when the diagnosis is
SCLC. The treatments that are available to patient’s is Chemotherapy, radiation, and if at all
possible surgery. Surgery only helps very few SCLC patients because this disease normally has
already spread to other parts of the body or the patient is not in good health to even qualify for
surgery. Small cell lung cancer obviously weakens the lungs in which if a patient undergoes
surgery the lungs could collapse or even possibly the surgery could damage the lungs creating
holes that will not be able to be repaired causing death. Radiation therapy is powerful x-rays that
are aimed directly at the cancer cells and kills the cancer cells or at least is able to shrink the
cancer cells. The downside to this is our normal cells at times are also damaged or killed off by
the radiation treatment making the patient weaker and vulnerable or more prone to infections due
to a low immune system. Chemotherapy is a type of drug that is injected into the body or may
be taken orally by mouth. Two types of chemotherapy drugs used for small cell lung cancer are
etoposide or irinotecan combined with either ciplatin or crboplatin to be most effective and to
attack the cancer cells hard. According to ACS (2009),“Sometimes if the patient is healthy
enough to receive chemotherapy and radiation at the same time then the patient has a better
chance of survival and less cancer cells to worry about in the body or spreading throughout the
body”.
The overall prognosis with this disease is not positive one at all. Only 6% of people that
are diagnosed with Small squamous cell lung carcinoma or any small cell lung cancer are alive
after 5 years of diagnosis. According to NIH (2010),“The treatments that the patients go through
help them stretch their lifespan out to about six months or maybe even a year from the time they
were diagnosed, but that is not even guaranteed or promised”.

4. Kelly Cooper 4
The Small squamous cell lung carcinoma is due to smoking cigarettes and second hand
smoking. This cancer is obviously preventable and I strongly advise everyone to take the proper
precautionary measures to ensure a long healthy life and think of not only yourself but your
family members as well. According to Cancerhelp (2011)“The cancer attacks and weakens your
cells and gives your body no real hope of recovery and the overall prognosis of lung cancer and
living is only 2 to 5%”. The odds are not in anyone’s favor so please take heed to this warning.
The reason I am doing my research on Small squamous cell lung carcinoma is because
this disease took my mother’s life on February 1st 2011. She was diagnosed on March 20th 2010
and started radiation immediately. Even though our medical advances are so amazing and
astounding the modern medicine could not save my mother’s life. This cancer is fast, horrifying
to watch someone die from and the most disheartening is that it is preventable.
References

5. Kelly Cooper 5
Dugdale, D. (2004, 22 03).Medline plus. Retrieved from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000122.htm
(2009). Retrieved from http://www.americancancersociety.org/2009 (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/type/lung-cancer/about/types-of-lung-
cancer
(2011). Retrieved from http://www.cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/type/lung-
cancer/about/types-of-lung-cancer