Guide To The Causes And Complications Of Large Cell Carcinoma

Severe Pain

Severe pain is a common complication of large cell carcinoma. Severe and chronic pain affects around three-fourths of all individuals affected by malignancy in the lung. The most common parts of the body affected by severe pain as a result of large cell carcinoma are the lower back and middle chest. This pain may be felt for over twelve hours a day and has a poorly defined or gradual onset. Severe pain can be the result of a large cell carcinoma tumor growing in the top of the lung in close proximity to the cervical sympathetic and brachial plexus nerves. Some patients experience severe pain when their large cell carcinoma spreads into the pleural space. Severe pain in a large cell carcinoma patient can greatly compromise their quality of life because it is often not responsive to even the strongest of pain medications.

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Breathing Issues

An individual affected by large cell carcinoma can frequently experience breathing issues as a complication of their malignancy. The lungs in a healthy individual are made of hundreds of small air sacs (alveoli) that have tiny blood vessels that run through them. Air moves down an individual's windpipe, into their bronchi, and then into the alveoli where carbon dioxide is released, and oxygen is absorbed into the blood. That blood then moves away from the lungs back to the heart. The heart and lungs work together in the body to ensure all of an individual's tissues receive oxygen-rich blood. A large cell carcinoma patient has a cancerous mass that grows into many of the air sacs in the lungs, damaging them and causing them to become nonfunctional. Lung cancer can also invade into the channels that carry air from the bronchi to the small air sacs, causing them to become damaged or obstructed. These issues induced by the growth of cancer cells in the lung is what causes an affected individual to experience breathing issues.