Overview

Lung Cancer is cancer that forms in tissues of the lung, usually in the cells lining air passages. As they grow, the abnormal cells can form tumors and interfere with the functioning of the lung.

There are two main types of lung cancer; small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. These two types of cancers grow, spread, and are treated in different ways.

• Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer accounting for about 80% of all cases. It doesn’t grow and spread as fast as small cell lung cancer, and is treated differently.
• Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) makes up about 20% of all lung cancer cases. This type is the most aggressive and rapidly growing of all the types. SCLC metastasizes rapidly to many sites within the body and is most often discovered after metastasis.

Of the 4,807 new cancer cases reported in 2020, 226 are of lung cancer in the UAE, according to the Globocan statistics. Mortality due to lung cancer is ranked as second place of cancer deaths in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, Men are more likely to get lung cancer than women in the UAE.