What Is Lung Cancer Symptoms

Symtoms

Some people with lung cancer develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, and/or chest pain due to how the cancer affects lung function. Typically, fears that a patient may have lung cancer begin as abnormal findings on a chest exam (chest x-ray or CT scan) or when the disease has progressed enough to cause symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, chest. pain, fatigue and/or weight loss. Often, when patients are diagnosed with lung cancer, they have long experienced symptoms such as persistent breathing difficulties, recurrent respiratory infections, or chest pain. People with other respiratory conditions may attribute symptoms of lung cancer to the wrong disease, delaying diagnosis and treatment.


Lung Cancer

In addition to the respiratory system, symptoms of advanced lung cancer can affect other parts of the body, especially when cancer cells enter the blood or lymphatic system and spread (metastasize) to distant tissues or organs, such as the brain. liver or bone.

Signs

Signs and symptoms of lung cancer range from what might immediately come to mind when thinking about the disease (for example, persistent cough, shortness of breath, coughing up blood) to perhaps more unexpected symptoms like hoarseness, back pain, and chest pain. Shoulder. Common symptoms of SVCS include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, cough, and swelling of the face, neck, upper body, and hands. Some symptoms, such as a persistent cough, are more common and well-known than others, such as sticky fingers. Symptoms and signs may include shortness of breath, persistent cough (with or without blood), chest pain, and frequent chest infections.

Spread

Signs and symptoms that may appear if the cancer has spread to other organs include bone pain, headache, muscle weakness, and/or droopy eyelids. Due to its location, this tumor often causes symptoms quite early, such as coughing, coughing up blood, or recurrent lung infections due to airway obstruction. Adenocarcinoma of the lung usually occurs in the outer regions of the lungs and can become quite large before any symptoms appear. Instead of affecting the lungs, these tumors can spread to the ribs, vertebrae in the spine, nerves, or blood vessels.


Growing Tumor

A growing tumor in the lungs can put pressure on the spine or affect the nerves around the spine, causing pain. The occurrence is partly due to the fact that there are very few pain receptors in the lungs, which means that the tumor can develop and grow for a long time without causing noticeable discomfort. In fact, warning signs often don't show up until the lung cancer is large enough to irritate the airways or press against another organ, causing pain. When this happens, especially when taking a deep breath or laughing, it is often due to swollen lymph nodes or chest cancer.


Rare Types

Rare Types of Breast Cancer There are more than a dozen unusual tumors that can develop in the chest and may or may not originate in the lungs. A chest x-ray cannot confirm cancer because there are many other reasons why a chest x-ray can cause shadows. REFERENCES The initial evaluation of a patient with suspected lung cancer begins with a history and physical examination; blood tests are completed; levels of alkaline phosphatase, liver transaminases, and calcium are measured; chemicals (electrolytes, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine); and a chest X-ray. 22 A normal chest X-ray cannot rule out lung cancer because small tumors may be hidden in the mediastinum or elsewhere in the chest. Often, lung tumors cannot be detected on ordinary chest X-rays until they reach 1 cm in diameter.


3000 people per year

Mesothelioma only affects about 3,000 people a year, usually in the part of the mesothelium that surrounds the lungs (the pleura), but sometimes also in the pericardium that covers the heart. These cancer cells form on a thin layer of tissue (mesothelium) that covers the pleura, the lining of the chest cavity that contains the lungs.

Common cold

This happens for a variety of reasons, such as the cancer itself and decreased lung function, decreased fitness due to reduced physical activity, or fluid buildup between the walls of the lungs (pleural effusion). These symptoms are often easily confused with common respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis or pneumonia, delaying an accurate diagnosis. Unfortunately, some people are misdiagnosed for a long time because their symptoms are similar to other diagnoses, such as pneumonia, allergies, or the common cold.

Not always Symptoms

Many types of cancer don't always have symptoms until the tumor has progressed significantly, and other forms have symptoms that are subtle or similar enough to those of other diseases to not be taken seriously at first. Different types of cancer that affect different areas of the lungs may cause different symptoms and be treated differently. Lung cancer can present with a variety of symptoms, the most common being cough, hemoptysis, chest and shoulder pain, shortness of breath, hoarseness, weight loss, anorexia, fever, weakness, and bone pain. [11] and emphasizes that physicians should be aware of the potential for lung cancer in patients with such symptoms, especially if these symptoms persist and occur in individuals at increased risk of developing lung cancer, such as smokers and ex-smokers, especially those older Those over 50 years old with chronic airway obstruction.


Distant Metastases

Lung cancer signs and symptoms due to distant metastases Localization Sign or symptom frequency (%) Any localization any sign or symptom33 Liver weakness, weight loss, anorexia, hepatomegaly up to 60 Bone pain, fractures, high alkaline phosphatase up to 25 Lymphatic Swollen lymph nodes15 to 20 Cerebral headache, convulsions, nausea and vomiting, altered mental status up to 10 Adrenal adrenal insufficiency Rare skin subcutaneous nodules (eg, cough, hemoptysis); intrathoracic spread (eg, Horner syndrome, superior vena cava) obstruction); and distant metastases (eg, bone pain). If a blood clot ruptures and travels into the lungs, chest pain (often severe and sudden) may be accompanied by shortness of breath, which is called a pulmonary embolism.



Cited Sources



What Is Lung Cancer Symptoms