Valley doctors speak about risks during Lung Cancer Awareness Month

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HARLINGEN — People who don't smoke may often think they don't have to worry about lung cancer.

Not so, says Danilo Barcos, who was diagnosed earlier this year and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

“It was a terrifying experience for me. I couldn't believe it. I was careful about my diet and exercised, but I couldn't believe that I would get this disease,” said Barcos, 77. he said.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and local doctors want everyone to learn more about this silent killer. This silent killer shows no real symptoms until it metastasizes (spreads to other parts of the body) and becomes untreatable.

Dr. J. Mark Morales, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon in Harlingen and Corpus Christi, said people with a family history of lung cancer should have regular CT scans of their chests. Morales noted that if a family member who has never smoked develops lung cancer in their 40s, other relatives should also undergo regular CT scans to check for lung cancer.

Many risk factors can contribute to the development of lung cancer. These factors include smoking and pesticides. People who have been exposed to second-hand smoke from someone else's smoking should also be tested.

“The simple steps are to first get a chest X-ray and then get a chest CT scan,” Morales said.

Dr. Jairo Rodriguez, a local pulmonologist who owns Benchmark Lung Center, said lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide and the second most common cancer in the United States.

“The treatments we have are getting better, but it's still not enough,” Rodriguez said. “We don't have really good prophylactic, prophylactic methods to diagnose cancer. When patients come in, most of the time they come in with very large lung masses, and other organs… It has metastasized to.”

Morales said lung cancer is called a “silent killer” because there are no symptoms in its early stages.

Smoking, of course, is the most widely known cause of lung cancer. The simple answer is to stop smoking and don't start smoking.

However, lung cancer is not necessarily caused by smoking.

“Some people never smoke, they've never been exposed to toxins, and they develop lung cancer as young as their 40s and 50s even if they never smoke,” Morales said. “If your mother or a relative has such symptoms, you should be aware of it and get tested early.”

Morales said anyone with a family history of lung cancer should get tested regularly.

“People are becoming more and more aware,” he says. “It used to be that people with very advanced stage lung cancer were coming in with metastases, coming in with hemoptysis, and had already lost a lot of weight, and had already progressed to that point. But , now a lot of people are getting tested. They get CT scans and come in at stage 1 or 2, which is very good because it can be cured.”

Barkos occasionally smoked when he was younger, but only when social circles encouraged him to do so. However, when he was diagnosed with cancer, he had not smoked in 30 years. At first it felt like what he calls “walking pneumonia.” A chest X-ray was taken, followed by a CT scan of his chest, and he finally received the terrifying diagnosis.

But they might have made it in time. After chemotherapy is finished, he will undergo radiation therapy.

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