Johns Hopkins Health Alert
The "Quiet" Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Lung cancer may not be such a silent disease after all, so it’s important to listen to your body and tell your doctor if you experience new symptoms
Although lung cancer is often thought to be a "silent disease," with no symptoms appearing until it’s too late for treatment, a recent study finds that some lung cancer patients had symptoms for many months before they were diagnosed. This study of 22 men and women recently diagnosed with lung cancer found that patients recalled having new symptoms for many months, typically during the year before their lung cancer diagnosis, no matter what the stage of their disease when diagnosed.
Chest symptoms -- cough, breathing changes and chest pain -- were common lung cancer symptoms, as were feelings of fatigue or lethargy, weight loss and eating changes. Most symptoms were not interpreted as serious by patients at the time, and were therefore not acted on. The patients’ beliefs about health changes that could indicate lung cancer played a part in the delay in diagnosis.
Better insight into patients' perspectives on their experience before being diagnosed with lung cancer may help doctors to recognize patients with lung cancer earlier and more easily so that they can refer them for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. This lung cancer study was reported in the journal Thorax (Volume 60, page 314).
Peter B. Terry, M.D., professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins' Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, cautions people to take their symptoms seriously.
So what should you look for? Symptoms specific to the growth and spread of lung cancer may include coughing up red or rust-colored phlegm, wheezing and shortness of breath.
Sometimes an infection in the lung behind the tumor that is obstructing the airway produces a fever. Invasion of cancerous cells into the pleura or other nearby structures can produce pain in the chest, shoulders, or arms. If the lung cancer spreads to surrounding tissues, it can lead to enlarged lymph nodes in the chest or neck and impingement of various nerves, resulting in hoarseness. Due to narrowing of the esophagus, a person may have difficulty swallowing. There may be swelling of the neck and face from blockage of blood flow from these areas to the heart. In about 30 percent of patients, lung cancer also causes clubbing of the fingers (a thickening of the fingertips and increased curvature of the fingernails).
Posted in Lung Disorders on March 8, 2007
Reviewed June 2011
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My dad died from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - squamous carcinoma. He first got sick Dec. 25, 2005. He died June 1, 2006.
I learned that:
1. We should not have assumed that he had a cold, allergies or bronchitis
2. That you can go about a daily routine & not know you are that sick
3. That you can have good blood work (cbc) in the first few months of being sick.
4. That you can take an x-ray & not have it appear with minor abnormality
5. That you should follow up on your health. It is your responsibility, more than your doctor's.
6. That you can quit smoking for over 28 years and still get lung cancer
7. That our ability to breath is precious & yet I/we take it for granted
8. That our lungs, heart and kidneys work together and affect each other
9. That you can get sick from lung cancer and die while trying to validate that lung cancer is what you have.
Posted by: Harry's Daughter | March 11, 2007 11:13 PM
Your article about lung cancer symptoms states that patients should take symptoms more seriously. My wife died of stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer only three weeks after finally being diagnosed by her doctors. She had complained about a chronic cough in mid Aug 2004 and was diagnosed as having pneumonia. X-RAYS taken in Sept showed only signs of pneumonia. In Oct. she started having trouble walking and the cough just got worse. We begged our family doctor to send her to a pulmonary specialist and he said he didn't see any evidence to warrent doing that. He did finally order a C-scan and based on the results of that sent her to a pulmonary doctor who immediately diagnosed her as having stage 4 lung cancer. She died 3 weeks later. She was an ex smoker, stopped in 1989 but was by all definations at high risk for lung cancer. Our family doctor was following protocall establised by the NCI by not ordering routine C-scans annually for lung cancer or even when she started showing symptoms. Its not only patients who should take symptoms of lung cancer seriously, family doctors should also. The NCI should establish a protocall for people at high risk for lung cancer to get a C-scan at least annually.
Posted by: lincsara | October 27, 2007 9:45 AM
I am a health care provider and the information about lung cancer screening just doesn't make sense to me. I have smoked for many years and been exposed to second hand smoke from both parents growing up. Lung cancer killed my father at age 73, and my mother committed suicide a week later at age 69 as a result. I am now 60. I asked my doctor about a spiral CT as I had Googled information on lung cancer diagnosis and treatment and found information about it. I had the test 4 days ago and they found a 2mm spot of something and want to repeat the test in 6 months. I am so glad I had this test, they found something, but at least they didn't find me riddled with lung cancer! For that I am very grateful! This is also a huge impetus to finally quit completely. Does anyone really think that a conventional xray would have detected something as small as 2mm? And at least now I have a base line for future CT's. Isn't that alone enough to have one, especially for people like me that are probably in the ultra high risk category? I seem to read, it's not treatable anyway, it's highly treatable if diagnosed early enough, screening by CT may or may not be useful, I mean, what's up?
Posted by: John H. | August 19, 2010 9:03 AM
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This may seem slightly out of text but to me cancer is cancer. I have one question and it is about the use of plastic in either freezers or in the microwave. I had read that using plastic in the microwave can be dangerous as well as freezing in the freezer. What I am curious about in that respect is is it just as dangerous to use the so called microwave safe plastics? the article I read did not specify so that is why I have this question. I would assume that plastic is plastic but assumptions as we all know can lead to other problems. So, I ask again does it also mean that microwave plastics are all dangerous?
Sincerely
Vivien B.
Posted by: Vivien B. | March 10, 2007 7:05 PM