The longer amount of time that a person smokes and the higher number of cigarettes that they smoke each day can greatly increase the risk for such serious diseases as caner of the lungs. By completely removing the dangerous and unhealthy addiction of smoking the tobacco in cigarettes, an individual’s chance of acquiring lung cancer is reduced a great deal. A person generally does not even know that they have cancer in the lungs in its earliest stages because there are no symptoms that are noticeable. Once the disease has progressed, the individual may notice that bouts of bronchitis or pneumonia are recurring, chest pain, fatigue, breathlessness, loss of weight, and the production of phlegm that is blood-stained. The early detection of cancer in the lungs can be detected through the use of CT scans, x-rays, blood tests, and tests that are performed on mucus that has been coughed up. In cases where this type of disease is found early, the disease can be treated. However, this is dependent on which type or cancer it is, and the severity that the cancer has reached. Surgery is an option that is used to treat those who have tumors that are localized.