Valley doctor discusses risks during Lung Cancer Awareness Month

HARLINGEN — People who don’t smoke might often believe they are free from the fear of lung cancer.

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

“It was a frightening experience for me,” said Balcos, 77. “I can’t believe it because I am good about my diet, I do exercise, and I couldn’t believe I would have this kind of disease.”

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and local physicians want everyone to know more about this silent killer which shows no real symptoms until it has metastasized — spread to other parts of the body — and is untreatable.

Anyone with a family history of lung cancer should have regular CT scans of the chest area, Dr. J. Mark Morales, a cardiovascular and thoracis surgeon who practices in Harlingen and Corpus Christi. Morales pointed out if a family member who never smoked develops lung cancer in his or her 40s, other relatives should have regular CT scans to check for the disease.

Many risk factors can contribute to an incident of lung cancer. Those factors include cigarette smoking and pesticides. Those who were exposed to secondhand smoke from someone else’s smoking should also get screened.

“First they get a chest X-ray, and then the easy step is get a CT of the chest,” Morales said.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide and the second most common cancer in the United States, said Dr. Jairo Rodriguez, a local pulmonary physician who owns Benchmark Pulmonary Centers.

“The treatments that we have are improving but still they are not enough,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t have a really good prophylactic, a good preventive test to diagnose cancer. When the patients come to the office, most of the time they come with a very large lung mass and it has metastasized to other organs.”

Lung cancer is called a “silent killer” because in its early stages it shows no symptoms, Morales said.

Cigarette smoking is of course the most widely known cause of lung cancer. The simple answer for that is to stop smoking and don’t start.

But lung cancer isn’t always caused by smoking.

“There are some people that don’t smoke, they’ve never been exposed to any toxins, and they develop lung cancer at an early age, in their 40s and 50s without smoking.” Morales said. “If a mom or relative had that, you need to be aware of that and get it checked on early.”

Morales said anyone with a family history of lung cancer should have regular screenings.

“People are getting more and more aware,” he said. “Before we used to find that people with very advanced stages of lung cancer, they come in with a metastatic spread, they come in coughing up blood, they have already lost a lot of weight, it’s already progressed to that point. But nowadays we’re getting a lot of people that are screened. They get a CT scan, they come in with Stage One or Two, which is very good because they can be cured.”

Balcos had smoked occasionally in his younger years, only in social circles when it was offered. But he had not smoked at all in 30 years when he received his cancer diagnosis. It first felt like what he called “walking pneumonia.” Chest X-rays were made, followed by a CT scan of the chest area, and finally he received the dreaded diagnosis.

But, they may have gotten it in time. After he finishes chemotherapy, he’ll undergo radiation treatments.

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