What are the advanced symptoms of lung cancer

What are the late-stage symptoms of lung cancer? The late-stage symptoms of lung cancer may vary due to the different physical conditions of the patients. Late-stage lung cancer may metastasize to various organs and cause different symptoms, which often bring great pain to the patients and require timely symptomatic treatment.

Symptoms of locally advanced lung cancer: The chest cavity is a very complex space. Three-quarters of the lung surface is surrounded by the chest wall, which is composed of a thin layer of lining (parietal pleura), fat, muscle, ribs and skin in different proportions. Tumor invasion of any of the above parts will cause pain. Therefore, most patients with lung cancer that have regionally spread to the chest have symptoms of chest pain.

1. Hoarseness is the most common symptom of patients with advanced lung cancer. The recurrent laryngeal nerve that controls the left side of the voice function goes down from the neck to the chest, bypasses the large blood vessels of the heart and goes back up to the larynx, thus controlling the left side of the voice organ. Therefore, if the tumor invades the left side of the mediastinum and compresses the recurrent laryngeal nerve, hoarseness will occur, but there will be no sore throat or other symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection.

2. Shortness of breath and pleural effusion. Almost all patients with advanced lung cancer that has spread regionally have shortness of breath to varying degrees. Normal tissue fluid produced by the lungs and myocardium flows back through the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest. If these lymph nodes are blocked by tumors, these tissue fluids will accumulate in the pericardium to form pericardial effusions or accumulate in the chest cavity to form pleural effusions. Both of the above situations can cause shortness of breath.

3. Edema of the face and neck. On the right side of the mediastinum is the superior vena cava, which transports venous blood from the upper limbs and head and neck back to the heart. If the tumor invades the right side of the mediastinum and compresses the superior vena cava, it will initially cause the jugular vein to become swollen due to poor blood return, and eventually lead to edema of the face and neck, which needs to be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.

4. Unexplained headaches, vomiting, visual impairment, and personality and temper changes in lung cancer patients may be caused by intracranial hypertension or cranial nerve damage caused by lung cancer metastasis to the brain. This is common in small cell lung cancer and adenocarcinoma.

5. In addition to the above-mentioned common metastatic sites, lung cancer also has less common metastatic sites such as skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle, abdominal cavity, heart, etc. Symptoms are often related to the metastatic site. For example, if it metastasizes to the heart, symptoms such as chest tightness, palpitations, and even shortness of breath, syncope, and heart rhythm disorders may occur.