Final answer:
Lung cancer often has a long latent period which can last many years, making early detection difficult and resulting in many cases being incurable due to late diagnosis. Treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Preventing lung cancer is most effectively achieved by quitting smoking.
Step-by-step explanation:
Lung cancer does indeed have a long latent period, which means that there may be a significant amount of time between the initial exposure to a carcinogen, like tobacco smoke, and the diagnosis of cancer. This delay in detection and diagnosis can last many years, during which the cancer can develop significantly and often spread beyond the lungs. This is one reason why lung cancer is so deadly and the prognosis often poor, with many cases being incurable due to late diagnosis. Screening procedures such as chest X-rays or computed tomography (CT) scans for high-risk individuals can sometimes detect lung cancer earlier, before symptoms manifest.
The latency period for radiation-induced lung cancer is considerably long, often around 15 years, which indicates the time from initial radioactive exposure to the manifestation of cancer. Unfortunately, once diagnosed, the treatment options are limited and may involve surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy, which aim to either remove or control the tumor growth. However, damage to DNA over time, often as a result of smoking, is the primary contributor to cell mutation leading to lung cancer; therefore, quitting smoking remains the most critical measure in preventing lung cancer.