The majority of individuals with lung cancer show some symptoms when the disease is first discovered. These symptoms vary widely depending on whether they are due to the primary tumor or its spread.
Pain Associated with Lung Cancer
A lung cancer can result in pain that can range in magnitude from slight to severe. Recognizing specific pain that has been at times directly linked with lung cancer can be extremely helpful.
- Bone pain: A person with lung cancer can report excruciating pain at the location where lung cancer involves the bones. This is one of the most common symptoms associated with lung cancer that has spread distantly to other locations.
- Chest pain: Approximately one-fourth of all lung cancer patients complain of chest pain that is aching and dull in nature. The pain is persistent and at times can involve other structures surrounding the lungs.
- Other areas of pain: Persistent shoulder, or back pain unrelated to pain from coughing. Shoulder pain can result if the cancer has spread to the nerves. The pain will trickle down from the shoulders to the outside of the arm. This particular condition is named Pancoast Syndrome.
Other Signs
Lung cancer can cause symptoms that may not be so straightforward and obvious as physical pain. These include precursors to certain diseases and other signs suggestive of a current or impending case of lung cancer.
- Horner’s Syndrome: This is actually an aggregation of symptoms that can occur secondary to lung cancer. These include pupil shrink in the eye located on the affected side of the body, weakness and drooping on one side of the eyelid, and loss of sweating on the corresponding side of the face
- Coughing up of blood: The expulsion of blood from the mouth (a process called hemoptysis), can denote a serious underlying lung disorder. Bleeding in the lungs at a high rate in any amount should be considered life-threatening. Hemoptysis will occasionally be the first warning of lung cancer.
- Blockages: Partial blockage of an airway that interferes with the clearing of secretions can add to list of symptoms. This will also predispose a person to pneumonia, or the inflammation of the lungs. If pneumonia does not clear away completely after antibiotic treatment, the symptoms may increase over time.
- Wheezing: Breathing with a whistling sound, also known as wheezing, can occur as a result of partial airway obstruction and irritation. As the lung cancer spreads, the sounds will also become more noticeable. Wheezing is characteristic of almost all asthma patients.
- Paralysis: Paralysis or convulsions (uncontrollable muscle contractions) could develop as a result of cancerous invasion of certain nerves. This in turn can cause paralysis of the vocal cords, which can cause a breathy, weak, low-pitched voice.
- Other symptoms: Lung cancer can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms when it has spread to the brain. A number of neurological symptoms can ensue, including headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, and symptoms associated with stroke. Unexplained weight loss and fevers are also non-specific symptoms that may present with lung cancer.
- Unreported symptoms: At least twenty percent of people who contract lung cancer do not report any symptoms when the cancer is actually diagnosed. The lung cancer is found through regularly-scheduled X-rays or computed axial tomography (CAT) scans.
It is very important to remain alert and to be on the lookout for the signs and symptoms mentioned above. Moreover, one should always verify with his or her physician whether any or all of these symptoms (if present) physically correlate to a possible case of lung cancer.
