Asbestos Related Lung Cancer

The uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in one lung or in both of the lungs is how lung cancer is defined. Healthy lung tissue cells reproduce and develop into healthy lung tissue. The abnormal cells representative of lung cancer reproduce more rapidly than normal cells and never grow into healthy lung tissue. Lumps of cancer cells, also known as tumors, then form and disrupt the normal operation of the lung, making it difficult for the lung to function properly.

Most people accurately think of lung cancer as a disease that is often caused by cigarette smoking, but it can also be caused by asbestos. Those people who have been heavily exposed to asbestos are several times more likely to develop lung cancer than people who have not been exposed to asbestos. People at the most risk for developing lung cancer are those people who smoke cigarettes and also have a history of asbestos exposure. Those people have as much as a ninety times greater chance of developing lung cancer than those persons who neither smoked nor were exposed to asbestos. Lung cancer can also be caused by exposure to other carcinogens.

Types of Lung Cancer