Lung Cancer Symptoms I 10 Warning Signs Of Lung Cancer You Should Not Ignore

The lungs and the heart are among the most critical organs in the maintenance of homeostasis in the body, and lung cancer is an ailment that impairs the function that keeps us alive. It reduces people’s ability to breathe and their intake of oxygen. It is a progressive disease characterised by an overgrowth of cells in the lung tissue beyond their typical pattern of growth. Such an uncontrolled replication becomes a tumour and in time starts migrating to other areas of the body.

Lung cancer is difficult to identify in most cases because it leaves very few diagnostic clues, and sometimes there are no symptoms at all. The most common type of lung cancer is called non-small cell lung cancer, but sometimes patients may suffer from the other two categories: small cell lung cancer and lung carcinoid tumours. These are the most common symptoms you would find in most types of cancer:

Progressive cough

The normal function of the lung includes taking in oxygen, taking out carbon dioxide, but also keeping the airways clear of obstruction. In this regard, cancer slowly becomes a problem and starts becoming a perceived blockage when it grows large enough. Thus, the airways activate cough as a defence mechanism to clear the airways from the tumour that’s pressing around the area.

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As we could possibly guess, the tumour will not be moved by coughing but rather keep growing and making the symptoms worse as it does so. The type of cough you should be worried about is a chronic cough (lasting for 8 weeks or more) that does not go away, it is dry or with very little mucus, and becomes progressive through time. At some point, this cough is continuous day and night and may even interfere with sleep.

Susceptibility to infection

Many patients with cancer perceive at first a higher susceptibility to respiratory infections, which may add up to their persistent cough and become a productive cough instead. Pneumonia, bronchitis and other viral and bacterial infections might be even more common in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but it sometimes counts as an early symptom as well.

Thus, if you have persistent cough combined with recurrent infections in your respiratory tract, be sure to inform your doctor about such recurrence and your other symptoms so he can perform a thorough investigation of your case.

Hemoptysis

This is often the symptom that alerts patients to come to private practice, and it is the clinical name of coughing up blood. As it grows, cancer cells recruit all nearby blood vessels and create their own. However, new blood vessels have no muscle layer; they are abnormal and very fragile. In time, they start bleeding, and blood in the respiratory tract triggers cough.

Coughing up blood should be differentiated from lung infections, especially tuberculosis. The most common approach is performing an X-Ray and other exams to diagnose the root cause. However, management and interpretation of results should be performed by a physician. So, if you ever experience this symptom go right away to your doctor and do not delay your diagnosis.

Chest pain

In lung cancer, there are various types of chest pain. In most cases, people feel a pressing pain or mild discomfort. In other cases, pain is not located in a single spot but dispersed throughout the thorax. This type of pain becomes worse when patients are taking a deep breath when they laugh or cough. Since patients with lung cancer have a continuous and progressive cough, it becomes very irritating and frustrating in the long term.

Local effects of the tumour in the lung tissue play a significant role is causing chest pain (pressure upon nerve terminals and inflammation in the lungs), but sometimes chest pain is also caused by a spread of the tumour to other areas of the lung tissue, lymph nodes, and even other structures in the thorax. Thus, it can be either a mild discomfort as the disease starts or a severe problem in advanced lung cancer.

Chest pain should be differentiated from many other common sources, including severe problems like heart attacks and intercostal neuralgia, which would also cause pain upon breathing.

Shortness of breath

Similar to many other lung problems, lung cancer results in difficulty to take a deep breath and the annoying sensation that one is not breathing deep enough. This is called shortness of breath, and it is prevalent in patients with lung cancer. However, we can find the same symptom in various infections of the respiratory tract.

In lung cancer, there’s a common condition called atelectasis, and it often appears early in the development of cancer. These patients have dyspnea or difficulty to breathe because atelectasis is a shrinking of the air sacks in the lung. Instead of being full of air, they collapse as the tumour grows and push them apart.

Patients with mild symptoms would have discomfort upon breathing, and severe symptoms include anxious and rapid breathing with respiratory wheezing. Even if we suspect and find atelectasis in an X-ray, we should rule out various causes like pneumonia, scarring after past surgery, and others.

Hoarse voice

Lung cancer grows disproportionately, and when it is near to certain nerves, it starts putting pressure upon them. There’s a nerve called recurrent laryngeal nerve, which runs down into the abdomen and goes up again to end up in the larynx (where we have the voice box). When this nerve is affected by the tumour, it will cause paralysis of various muscles in the larynx that are needed to produce your voice. Since you will still have the other nerve intact, you will be able to speak, but your voice will change to a hoarse tone.

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There are plenty of reasons why people get a hoarse voice, and the most common is an inflammation in the larynx caused by infections. Thus, do not panic if you have this symptom and ask your doctor about it to investigate your case further.

Difficulty swallowing

This is also called dysphagia, and it is a dysfunction of your esophagus to pass food to the stomach. Such dysfunction may be caused by the pressure by the tumour, and even the therapeutic options used to eradicate lung cancer.

Patients with lung cancer who have difficulty swallowing should be cautious because it will increase their risk of inhaling food particles or liquids into the lungs. This can be a lethal complication and should be attended immediately in the emergency room.

Patients with dysphagia often suffer from dehydration because they avoid swallowing and stop taking liquids regularly. In some severe cases of lung cancer, this can lead to kidney problems and malnutrition.

Chronic fatigue

Patients with lung cancer have plenty of reasons to feel fatigue. Similar to all types of cancer, the tumour consumes a large deal of energy that is meant to nurture our cells, and this contributes to feeling low energy levels and muscle weakness. At the same time, there is severe metabolic stress as the disease progresses, and it leads to progressive fatigue.

However, lung cancer patients have yet another reason to feel tired. Their respiratory system is not functioning at its best, and sometimes it is even difficult to breathe properly. Additionally, these patients are often dehydrated when difficulty to swallow starts, and they become malnourished, which adds up to the low energy problem.

Weight loss

In all types of cancer, we can find weight loss as a predominant symptom, especially in advanced stages of cancer. Weight loss is the result of an increase in energy consumption by the tumour, a deficit of nutrients, loss of appetite, and aberrant inflammatory signalling between the tumour and the brain. There is muscle wasting, weakness, fatigue, and a severe impact on the quality of life.

Unintentional weight loss should be differentiated from other causes as in changes in the dietary pattern, an increase in physical exercise and other sources of energy consumption. Losing 5% of your weight in 6 months or less without any of these factors should raise an alarm and make you visit your doctor to find out the reason why.

Headache and vision changes

These symptoms are not related to lung cancer itself but instead to metastasis of lung cancer. In a late stage of the disease, one of the most common sites of metastasis is the brain. There are various manifestations of brain metastasis, and they will depend on the location of the cancer cells. The most common manifestations are vision changes and headache, but it may also cause seizures, personality changes, cognitive changes, and others.

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Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer in various countries, and besides staying attentive to its symptoms, there is something else you can do to prevent this ailment: stop smoking. There are a “stop smoking” initiative and a national “No Smoking Day” in the UK which is yearly celebrated on the second Wednesday of March. Avoiding passive smoking (constantly staying around people who smoke) will also reduce your risk of lung cancer dramatically.