Is There A Connection Between COPD And Lung Cancer?

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a dangerous lung condition that primarily affects smokers. Chronic mucus-producing coughing, chest pains, wheezing, and difficulty breathing are all symptoms of COPD, which worsen over time.

COPD is one of the major risk factors associated with lung cancer. This is because lung cancer and COPD both have the same root causes, such as premature aging of the lungs and smoking. Having COPD increases your risk of developing lung cancer even though not everyone with COPD does.

Associated Risk Factors

Some common risk factors are associated with the connection between COPD and lung cancer:

• Inflammation: Chronic lung inflammation or lung infection has been related in studies to both COPD and lung cancer. Your cells divide rapidly during an inflammation to try and heal the damage. The likelihood that the cells may mutate and develop into cancer is increased as a result.
• Genetic Factors: Genes may have a role in determining who develops lung cancer and COPD among smokers. Numerous genes that raise your chance of both have been discovered by researchers.
• Aging: Age. Your body has a greater difficulty repairing DNA damage as you get older. Due to this reason, the risk of developing cancer may increase with age. People over 60 have a 2.5 times higher rate of COPD.

Many COPD patients are not aware of their increased susceptibility to lung cancer despite this obvious association.

According to a research of 40 COPD sufferers, many of the participants were unaware that they had an increased chance of developing cancer. Instead of getting screened for lung cancer, the majority of individuals blamed changes in their symptoms on COPD. Any changes in symptoms should be reported to the doctor by COPD patients.

Early-stage lung cancer is manageable. With early treatment, even those with terminal cancer may live longer. As a result, people with chronic respiratory diseases may live shorter lives as a result of not being aware of the relationship between COPD and lung cancer. Additionally, lung cancer may be more difficult to detect if COPD symptoms are present.

Concluding Remarks

A person with COPD may live less time if they have lung cancer, and it almost always reduces their quality of life. Early identification of lung cancer saves lives even though it can be deadly. When a doctor finds lung cancer before it has spread to other parts of the body, the 5-year survival rate for lung cancer, which is 18.6% overall, increases to 56%.

As a result, if COPD sufferers seek therapy right away, they may live a long time even with lung cancer. People with either problem should seek medical attention from their doctor so that the doctor can track their symptoms and progression because the symptoms of COPD can be challenging to differentiate from the symptoms of lung cancer.