Lung cancer may not show any signs or symptoms at an early stage. At this stage, the diagnosis is made incidentally in examinations made with early diagnosis methods or for other reasons.
Lung cancer may not show any signs or symptoms at an early stage. At this stage, the diagnosis is made incidentally in examinations made with early diagnosis methods or for other reasons.
The signs and symptoms encountered in the later stages may be of lung origin, or symptoms related to the organs or tissues where lung cancer has spread.
The most common signs and symptoms of lung cancer are:
- Cough: Persistent cough, often lasting longer than two weeks, of unknown cause.
- Bloody sputum: Bleeding or blood on the sputum is seen when coughing.
- Chest pain: Chest pain that increases when coughing, laughing, or breathing deeply.
- Weakness, fatigue,
- Body aches: There may be pain in the back, shoulder blades, shoulders, arms and legs, especially. Headache may occur if it has metastasized to the brain,
- Enlargement of lymph nodes on the collarbone,
- Anorexia,
- Weight loss,
- Shortness of breath: It is one of the early symptoms of lung cancer.
- Wheezing,
- Hoarseness,
- Difficulty swallowing,
- Lung infections: Recurrent and persistent lung infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia
- Clubbing in the fingers: Swelling in the tips of the fingers and toes, which develops especially quickly and painfully, suggests lung cancer,
- Different signs and symptoms may be encountered depending on the organs or tissues where lung cancer has spread.
In some diseases, it can be considered as a sign of lung cancer. These uncommon situations are:
- Horner’s Syndrome: It is the condition of drooping of the eyelid, constriction of the pupils and absence of sweating on the same side. It suggests lung cancer.
- Superior Vena Cava Syndrome: Vena Cava Superior, a large vessel that carries dirty blood to the lungs, develops due to the compression of the tumor in the lung. It progresses with headache, ringing in the ears, blurred consciousness, and redness in the upper parts of the body, neck and face.
- Paraneoplastic Syndrome: Some lung cancers show symptoms in distant organs thanks to hormone-like structures. Diseases such as Cushing’s Syndrome and Lambert-Eaton Syndrome are in this group. There may be liver findings, facial flushing, changes in blood pressure or blood sugar levels, nervous system findings, and vision problems.