What causes small cell lung cancer

What causes small cell lung cancer? The number of lung cancer patients is increasing. Patients and their families are under tremendous pressure. They don’t know how to treat it completely, and they don’t know what causes this disease. So, let’s learn about what causes small cell lung cancer!

It is generally believed that the incidence of small cell lung cancer is related to the following factors:

1) Smoking: It is generally recognized that smoking is an important risk factor for small cell lung cancer. The more you smoke, the longer you smoke, and the earlier you start smoking, the higher the lung cancer mortality rate. The risk of lung cancer in smokers gradually decreases as the number of years of quitting increases, and it takes 15 years of quitting to be close to that of non-smokers. Passive smoking can also easily cause lung cancer.

2) Occupational carcinogens: Confirmed occupational carcinogens that cause human small cell lung cancer include asbestos, inorganic arsenic compounds, dichloromethyl ether, chromium and certain compounds, nickel smelting, radon and radon progeny, mustard, vinyl chloride, soot, tar and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in petroleum, heating products of tobacco, etc.

3) Air pollution: Air pollution includes indoor micro-environment and outdoor macro-environment pollution. For example, passive smoking, fuel combustion and carcinogens produced during cooking. Car exhaust, industrial waste gas and road asphalt in cities all contain carcinogens, the main of which is benzopyrene.

4) Ionizing radiation: Large doses of ionizing radiation can cause small cell lung cancer. Different rays of radiation produce different effects. For example, Hiroshima in Japan released neutrons and gravitational rays, while Nagasaki only released gravitational rays. The former has a higher risk of small cell lung cancer than the latter.

5) Diet and nutrition: Animal experiments have shown that vitamin A and its derivative beta-carotene can inhibit tumors induced by chemical carcinogens.

6) Others: Viral infection, fungal toxins (Aspergillus flavus), tuberculosis scars, low immune function, endocrine disorders and family inheritance may also play a certain combined role in the occurrence of small cell lung cancer.