Signs and Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of lung cancer can also be caused by other health conditions. It is important to have any unusual symptoms checked by a doctor.

Signs and symptoms of lung cancer are:

• a cough that worsens or doesn’t go away
• chest pain that is constant and made worse by deep breathing or coughing
• shortness of breath
• wheezing
• hoarseness
• blood-stained sputum
• loss of appetite
• weight loss
• frequent chest infections – bronchitis or pneumonia
• fatigue
• severe shoulder pain – common symptom of pancoast tumours
• collapsed lung
• Horner’s syndrome
  • drooping or weakness of one eyelid
  • smaller pupil of the same eye
  • reduced or absent perspiration on the same side of the face as the affected eye
• paraneoplastic syndromes
  • most often seen in non–small cell lung cancer
    • hypercalcemia
    • finger clubbing – change in the shape of the nail bed that can occur in both fingers and toes
    • hypertrophic osteoarthropathy – increased and sometimes painful growth of some bones, especially those in the fingertips
    • blood clots
    • gynecomastia (excess breast growth in men)
    • galactorrhea (abnormal discharge from the nipples)
  • most often seen in small cell lung cancer
    • SIADH (syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone)
    • Cushing’s syndrome – weight gain, weakness, high blood pressure
    • cerebral degeneration – loss of balance and unsteadiness in arm and leg movement
    • Lambert-Eaton syndrome – weakness in muscles around the hip, which may be followed by weakness in muscles around the shoulders

Late signs and symptoms

Late signs and symptoms occur as the cancer grows larger or spreads to other parts of the body, including other organs.

• bone pain
• jaundice
• difficulty swallowing
• pleural effusion
• superior vena cava syndrome
• neurological changes
  • weakness
  • headache
  • numbness in a limb
  • dizziness
  • seizure
• enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or above the collarbone