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Severe Asthma And Lung Cancer: What's The Link?
May 22, 2023 – Did you know that cutting-edge research is highlighting the link between heavily symptomatic asthma and lung cancer?
About 25 million Americans have asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways that makes the inner lining of your lungs swell. Between 5% and 10% of Americans with the disease have severe asthma. Severe asthma is categorized by needing medium- to high-dose corticosteroids and other long-acting drugs. Often, these drugs won't control asthma symptoms, which people with asthma have every night and most days of the week.
The inflammation that is caused by asthma triggers attacks when patients breathe in allergens like pollen, dust, or pollutants.
Lung cancer is also driven by inflammation in the respiratory tract, which can contribute to the development of tumors.
"Inflammation does appear to be linked to malignancies," said William L. Dahut, MD, chief scientific officer of the American Cancer Society. "Inflammation from asthma may be one of the reasons why people with asthma are more likely to have lung cancer."
Severe asthma is also characterized by fibroblasts, cells that can further promote inflammation. Researchers also link fibroblasts to lung cancer.
"In a basic lab study, the investigators found invasive bronchial fibroblasts derived from asthmatic patients can activate lung cancer cells," said Yi Guo, PhD, an associate professor of health outcomes and biomedical informatics at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. "More studies are needed to explore this relationship in real-world patient populations." (Guo has also co-authored a new study that found patients with asthma are almost one-and-a-half times more likely to get cancer than those in good respiratory health.)
Researchers in the United Arab Emirates have found that severe asthma patients are often diagnosed with lung cancer after it has developed over 3 decades. This is important because it shows that inflammation from severe asthma may contribute to long-term low-level damage to lung tissue. Authors of the study working with Canadian researchers further found that severe asthma patients are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive stage III or IV lung cancer, and that doctors may want to consider severe asthma as a predictor of risk for the disease.
Read on for a look at the things that could put people with severe asthma at a higher risk for lung cancer, as well as how to reduce those chances.
What Are the Symptoms of Severe Asthma?
The symptoms of asthma are:
People with severe asthma may also breathe rapidly, have changes in their heart rate, and can strain their head and neck muscles from the stress of coughing or trying to get more air.
What Are the Symptoms of Lung Cancer?
There are two types of lung cancer. Adenocarcinoma occurs in up to 85% of patients and is also related to a subtype called squamous cell lung cancer. Small-cell lung cancer, which occurs in only 15% of patients, grows and spreads faster. For severe asthma patients, "the increased lung cancer risk does not occur in adenocarcinoma, but is more common in small cell and in squamous cell," Dahut said.
Lung cancer symptoms include:
Some of the symptoms of lung cancer overlap with signs of severe asthma. It's important that people with severe asthma tell their doctor about anything new that's concerning.
Should You Be Screened for Lung Cancer if You Have Severe Asthma?
At this, time, the recommendations for lung cancer screening apply to patients who:
That said, risk can be very specific, so it's important for people to do what's right for them on an individual level.
"It's important to abide by what your doctor recommends," said Albert Rizzo, MD, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. "If you have a family history of lung cancer, it's also important to review that with your doctor."
How Can You Lower Your Lung Cancer Risk if You Have Severe Asthma?
To reduce the risk, it's important to:
"The more control you have over your risk factors for lung cancer, the more your odds may decrease," Rizzo said. In short: There's a lot you can start doing today to live a longer, healthier life.
Professional FAQs: What Happens If I Leave Interstitial Lung Disease Untreated?
© Provided by ShutterStock Images M.D., FAAFP (Family Physician) · 40 years of experience · USA If interstitial lung disease is left untreated, it can lead to life-threatening conditions like high blood pressure, and arteries can get severely damaged.
→ See more questions and expert answers related to interstitial lung disease.
→ Learn more about interstitial lung disease: See the causes, symptoms, treatment options and more.
MBBS BMB Pediatrics persevering · 2 years of experience · IndiaInterstitial lung disease is a group of diseases that affect the tissue and spaces around the alveoli in the lungs. This is the place where oxygen that we breathe in is passed into the bloodstream and carbon dioxide passes from the blood to the lungs to be breathed out. When these spaces are obstructed by inflammation, this exchange is impaired. When inflammation is untreated for too long, it can result in pulmonary fibrosis, in which the lungs are scarred causing serious breathing problems. In severe cases, complications can be life threatening and include pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, and respiratory failure. There is no cure for interstitial lung disease, once scaring happens in the lungs, it usually cannot be reversed. Treatment can help to slow down the disease progression and to preserve as much quality of life as possible.
→ See more questions and expert answers related to interstitial lung disease.
→ Learn more about interstitial lung disease: See the causes, symptoms, treatment options and more.
MBBS · 2 years of experience · IndiaInterstitial lung disease if left untreated will rapidly progress to lung fibrosis. If the fibrosis is severe enough then the patient requires lung transplant to survive. There is no definitive cure for the disease, but the treatment slows down the disease process prolongs the life. It delays the need for lung transplant.
→ See more questions and expert answers related to interstitial lung disease.
→ Learn more about interstitial lung disease: See the causes, symptoms, treatment options and more.
Woman Who Vaped For Five Months Issues Warning After Getting Lung Disease At Just 35
A woman who tried to quit smoking by switching to vaping now has a serious lung disease at the age of just 35 and cannot even leave her own home without an oxygen tank
Lucy now wishes she could 'turn back time' (Image: Lucy Turchin)
A 35-year-old woman who now can't leave the house without an oxygen tank has now warned others about the dangers of vaping, and says she wishes she could "turn back time".
Lucy Turchin began vaping at the age of 31, in a bid to give up smoking, but after just five months she began experiencing a "chemical burning feeling" in her lungs.
She noticed some improvements when she stopped vaping, but, when she resumed seven months later, the pain began all over again.
After initially being misdiagnosed with asthma and anxiety, a high-resolution computerised tomograph (CT) scan revealed Lucy was in fact suffering from hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an immune system disorder that causes inflammation of the lung tissue.
Lucy was forced to put her career ambitions on hold and drop out of university (Image:
Lucy Turchin) She's had to cancel her wedding, and struggles to think about the future (Image:
Lucy Turchin)Doctors have reportedly ruled out cigarettes as having caused Lucy's hypersensitivity given that her lung issues began shortly after she switched to vaping.
The Mail Online reports that Lucy's condition is now so serious that she's had to drop out of her master's degree programme and has even had to cancel her wedding.
She's also spent £24,000 ($30,000) on treatments, and has to go to the hospital every single week to get steroids to control her condition.
Lucy, who lives in Washington State in the US, told the publication: "I hardly ever leave my house because of the risks of exposure to smoke and vape fumes while out in public. This is all terrifying to me. I am traumatised and have a lot of fear.
"I would do anything to go back in time and have made a different choice. I cry a lot and wonder why this happened to me. The world seemed to be at my fingertips before this."
Lucy describes her ongoing ordeal as 'terrifying'., and has now tried to warn others about the dangers of vaping (Image:
Getty Images/iStockphoto)Although she still hopes to get married and complete her master's degree one day, Lucy, who now struggles to catch her breath, is in such pain that she struggles to think about the future.
Lucy, who dreams of one day qualifying as a therapist, has since shared her story via TikTok, where she reportedly receives around three to five messages each day from those who've also become ill after vaping.
She's now issued the following warning: "People need to be made aware of the risks. But also they need to be made aware that we cannot and will not truly know the risks until more millennials and Gen Zs are dead from vaping.
"We will not know until it is too late. I wish vaping was illegal in the USA. But of course, I wish that. Because then I probably never would have vaped. And this would have never happened to me. And the beautiful life I had been building would be mine."
Do you have a story to share? Email us at julia.Banim@reachplc.Com
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