Lung cancer history and symptoms
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Kim-Son H. Nguyen, M.D., M.P.A., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Overview
common symptoms of lung cancer include dyspnea, hemoptysis, chronic coughing, chest pain, cachexia, and dysphonia.[1]
Symptoms
Symptoms that suggest lung cancer include:[1]
- Dyspnea (shortness of breath)
- Hemoptysis
- Chronic coughing or change in regular coughing pattern
- Wheezing
- Chest pain or pain in the abdomen
- Cachexia (weight loss), fatigue and loss of appetite
- Dysphonia
- Dysphagia
If the cancer grows in the airway, it may obstruct airflow, causing breathing difficulties. This can lead to accumulation of secretions behind the blockage, predisposing the patient to pneumonia.
Many lung cancers have a rich blood supply. The surface of the cancer may be fragile, leading to bleeding from the cancer into the airway. This blood may subsequently be coughed up.
Tumors in the top (apex) of the lung, known as Pancoast tumors,[2] may invade the local part of the sympathetic nervous system, leading to changed sweating patterns and eye muscle problems (a combination known as Horner's syndrome), as well as muscle weakness in the hands due to invasion of the brachial plexus.
Paraneoplastic Syndromes[3][4]
- Various paraneoplastic phenomena can arise in the setting of lung cancer:
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- SIADH causing hyponatraemia: Small cell lung cancer
- ACTH secretion (Cushing syndrome): carcinoid and small-cell sub type
- PTHrp causing hypercalcaemia: squamous cell carcinoma
- Carcinoid syndrome
- Gynaecomastia
- neurological
- polyneuropathy
- myelopathy
- cerebellar degeneration
- Lambert-Eaton myasthenia syndrome
- other
- finger clubbing
- hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy (HPOA): squamous cell carcinoma subtype
- nephrotic syndrome
- polymyositis 3
- dermatomyositis 3
- eosinophilia
- acanthosis nigricans
- thrombophlebitis: adenocarcinoma subtype
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hamilton, W (Dec 2005). "What are the clinical features of lung cancer before the diagnosis is made? A population based case-control study". Thorax. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. 60 (12): 1059–1065. PMID 16227326. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help) - ↑ Jones, DR (Jul 1998). "Pancoast tumors of the lung". Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. 4 (4): 191–197. PMID 10813231. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help) - ↑ Honnorat, J (May 2007). "Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes". Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. BioMed Central Ltd. 2: 22. doi:10.1186/1750-1172-2-22. PMID 17480225. Retrieved 2007-09-05. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help) - ↑ Kubo M, Ihn H, Yamane K, Kikuchi K, Yazawa N, Soma Y; et al. (2000). "Serum KL-6 in adult patients with polymyositis and dermatomyositis". Rheumatology (Oxford). 39 (6): 632–6. PMID 10888708.