Lung cancer

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Cancer - lung

Early lung cancer may not cause any symptoms. Many times, lung cancer is found when an x-ray is done for another reason.

Symptoms depend on the specific type of cancer you have, but may include:

• Cough that doesn't go away
• Coughing up blood
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Chest pain
• Loss of appetite
• Losing weight without trying
• Fatigue

Additional symptoms that may also occur with lung cancer:

• Weakness
• Swallowing difficulty
• Nail problems
• Joint pain
• Hoarseness or changing voice
• Swelling of the face
• Facial paralysis
• Eyelid drooping
• Bone pain or tenderness

These symptoms can also be due to other, less serious conditions, so it is important to talk to your health care provider.

The health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history. You will be asked if you smoke, and if so, how long you have smoked.

When listening to the chest with a stethoscope, the health care provider can sometimes hear fluid around the lungs, which could (but doesn't always) suggest cancer.

Tests that may be performed include:

• Chest x-ray
• Sputum cytology test
• Blood work
• CT scan of the chest
• MRI of the chest
• Positron emission tomography (PET) scan

In some cases, the health care provider may need to remove a piece of tissue from your lungs for examination under a microscope. This is called a biopsy. There are several ways to do this:

• Bronchoscopy combined with biopsy
• Pleural biopsy
• CT scan directed needle biopsy
• Mediastinoscopy with biopsy
• Open lung biopsy

Review Date: 07/31/2006
Reviewed By: Rita Nanda, M.D., Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.