A common symptom is chronic bronchitis with a persistent cough, although not all bronchitis is due to emphysema and not all bronchitis or coughs are due to an underlying obstruction. Cigarette smoking accelerates the age-related decline in forced expiratory volume by 3 fold. The pathology of emphysema is an inflammation of the terminal bronchioles and a destruction of parts of the alveoli. The most debilitating of lung diseases is also the most frequently occurring form of cancer in the United States, lung cancer. In excess of 175,000 new cases present each year and nearly 150,000 people die annually.
Cigarette smoke contains many carcinogens.
Patients with lung cancer are alarmed by an abnormal increase in the frequency and depth of coughing episodes. Diagnosis is made by chest X-ray and biopsy. The therapy regime is to remove all tumors through surgery, followed by radiation and chemotherapy.