Understanding Lung Cancer

November is lung Cancer Awareness month. Your lungs are like balloons inside your chest that give you oxygen and help you breathe. Lung cancer is when cells in the lungs don’t grow the way they are supposed to. When this happens, the lungs have a harder job to do. Think of it like a garden, if too many weeds grow, it can be bad for the healthy plants. When someone has lung cancer, they can have many different symptoms. Feeling tired and hungry can happen if you have it because your lungs can’t give you a lot of energy. It can also be hard to breathe and can give you a nasty cough. 

Lung cancer is often caused due to damage to the lungs. Most commonly, it can develop as a result of smoking tobacco, or by breathing in other dangerous chemicals. Sometimes, cancer can develop simply as a genetic mutation that occurs.

When a doctor diagnoses lung cancer through special imaging, they have different options to treat it. They may choose to perform a surgery on the affected lung. In other scenarios, a doctor may have to choose radiation therapy or chemo therapy, these special treatments send out powerful rays that damage cancer and the surrounding area. Finally, Doctors may choose to use special medicines to target the lung cancer cells. Thankfully, lung cancer is often treatable and even curable when caught early.

Sadly lung cancer is very common, in fact it is the most common cancer. Luckily it can be avoided. Lung cancer is very common because of the use of tobacco and smoking. If you avoid those entirely then your chances of getting lung cancer goes down significantly. If you already have lung cancer and you stop smoking it will give you a better chance of recovery.

Kiddle.co. “Lung Cancer Facts for Kids.” Kids.kiddle.co, 2025, kids.kiddle.co/Lung_cancer.