Symptoms
Early lung cancer often does not cause symptoms. But as the cancer grows, common symptoms may include:
- a cough that gets worse or does not go away breathing trouble, such as shortness of breath
- constant chest pain
- coughing up blood
- a hoarse voice
- frequent lung infections, such as pneumonia
- feeling very tired all the time
- weight loss with no known cause
Most often these symptoms are not due to cancer. Other health problems can cause some of these symptoms. Anyone with such symptoms should see a doctor to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
Diagnosis
If you have a symptom that suggests lung cancer, your doctor must find out whether it's from cancer or something else. Your doctor may ask about your personal and family medical history. Your doctor may order blood tests, and you may have one or more of the following tests:
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Physical exam: Your doctor checks for general signs of health, listens to your breathing, and checks for fluid in the lungs. Your doctor may feel for swollen lymph nodes and a swollen liver.
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Chest x-ray: X-ray pictures of your chest may show tumors or abnormal fluid.
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CT scan: Doctors often use CT scans to take pictures of tissue inside the chest. An x-ray machine linked to a computer takes several pictures. For a spiral CT scan, the CT scanner rotates around you as you lie on a table. The table passes through the center of the scanner. The pictures may show a tumor, abnormal fluid, or swollen lymph nodes.