Picture of Lung Cancer

A picture of lung cancer can help you better understand what is happening because of the cancer.

Showing a picture of lung cancer helps a person with cancer see exactly what has happened to their lungs because of the cancer they have. It is sometimes not enough just to see the x-ray of the cancer in the lungs. It shows the cancer and its damage to the lungs if the doctor takes pictures of the lung cancer during surgery. You can also see pictures from the bronchoscopy exam (the test where the doctor looks down the air tube with a camera); you can see what the cancer has done to you.

In some places, such as in England, there will be graphic pictures of lung cancer on packages of cigarettes. This is supposed to try and stop young people from buying cigarettes. The pictures will show a picture of disease in the lungs, a picture of a smoker who is dying and a picture of a baby in the womb. These will show the danger of smoking to people who are thinking of starting to smoke. Forty percent of the package of cigarettes will show these lung cancer pics.

Graphic pictures of lung cancer depend on where the cancer is.

A picture of lung cancer will likely show black lungs and a solid cancer with swollen lymph glands and liquid around the cancer. It may also show pneumonia. Pneumonia sometimes shows up when lung cancer is around. Pneumonia happens when the cancer blocks the airways of the lungs. Bacteria can back up behind the cancer. This causes pneumonia in the lungs which can be seen on lung cancer pics.

Graphic pictures of lung cancer can also help children learn what lung cancer can do and what smoking can do to a person. Lung cancer pics are used in elementary school or middle school to show the children what they might expect if they begin to smoke. It stops some children from starting to smoke

A picture of lung cancer that came from an autopsy can show you what is happening with your type of cancer, but it cannot show you exactly what your cancer looks like. It can show you what your type of cancer looks like inside the lung. It can give you an idea of what your type of cancer might look like inside your body.

Each type of lung cancer looks different.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is usually seen in the upper parts of the lungs. It looks like a ball of hard tissue that has taken over normal lung tissue. The lungs usually look black and wrinkled. In large cell cancer, the cancer is seen in the outer parts of the lungs, usually connected to the air tubes. The cancer starts in the air tubes and spreads with fingers of cancer to the outside of the middle of the cancer.

In mesothelioma, the cancer is usually attached to the lining of the lungs, called the pleura. It looks, in graphic pictures of the lungs, like a pancake attached to the lining of the lungs that spreads outward from the center. Mesothelioma can be anywhere on the lining of the lungs but is usually in the lower parts of the lungs near the wall of the chest.

Graphic pictures of lung cancer can also help doctors. Doctors can learn what lung cancer looks like. They can also see what it looks like on x-ray so they can find it when x-rays are taken of the patient with lung cancer. Graphic pictures of lung cancer can be frightening to look at but they help you and your doctor understand what the cancer is doing inside the body and can help you learn more about your cancer as you fight it.

Written by: Dr. Christine Traxler
6/20/2009
Reviewed by Susan McCracken
6/26/2009