General Information

 Lungs are situated in the chest (thoracic cavity)

 They wrap around the heart and major blood vessels going to and from the heart and     esophagus

 The right lung has three sections, or lobes, and the left lung has two

 The lungs and inner walls of the chest are covered with a thin double membrane called    the pleura, normally touching and moving easily during breathing

 Air is inhaled through the nose into the pharynx (back of the throat), the trachea    (windpipe),and finally into the mainstem bronchi

 The bronchial tubes or bronchi branch into smaller tubes within each lobe and again    into bronchioles ending in the alveolar ducts

 Alveolar ducts lead to tiny thin-walled clusters of sacs called alveoli

 Average lung has about 300 million alveoli

 The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place in the alveoli where blood    capillaries are present

 Lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women

 Accountable for 27% of cancer mortality

 Majority of patients have extensive disease at the time of diagnosis

 Occurs most often in the 55 to 65 year age group but in recent decades incidence has    increased two-fold in the 40 to 44 year old group and ten-fold in the 60 to 64 year    group

 Lungs are vital organs and cancer tends to spread through blood and lymph nodes

 Common sites of metastasis are brain, liver, bone and lymph nodes