How to distinguish small cell lung cancer from non-small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer are common malignant lung cancers, but the two diseases are very different. For example, the former is mainly caused by smoking and air pollution; the latter is mainly caused by ionizing radiation and nutritional deficiencies. There are four significant differences between these two lung cancer diseases. Let us understand them together.

1. Type: According to the different tissue types, small cell lung cancer can be divided into three types: oat cell type, intermediate type and compound oat cell type. There are three different types of non-small cell lung cancer, namely adenosquamous carcinoma, large cell carcinoma and sarcomatoid carcinoma.

2. Symptoms: The symptoms of small cell lung cancer are obvious, and the common ones are cough, sputum, hemoptysis, dyspnea, asthma, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, pleural effusion, dysphagia, weight loss, etc. The symptoms of non-small cell lung cancer mainly include chest pain, low fever, blood in sputum, weight loss, loss of appetite, dyspnea, cough, hemoptysis, etc.

3. Treatment: There are many ways to treat small cell lung cancer, and the commonly used methods are drug therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgical resection, etc. The treatment methods of non-small cell lung cancer mainly include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine treatment, local interventional therapy, surgical resection, etc.

4. Complications: Small cell lung cancer is prone to cause a variety of complications, such as dyspnea, cerebellar degeneration syndrome, myasthenia syndrome, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, pericardial effusion, etc. Complications of non-small cell lung cancer mainly include abnormal liver function and neurological damage.

In order to effectively distinguish between small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, it is necessary to carry out treatment and health recovery from these four aspects. Patients should also be reminded that small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer are both diseases with poor curability. After treatment, they should follow the doctor's advice, do a good job of relevant life care, auxiliary treatment, and promote the recovery of the disease.