When do you need to check for lung cancer when you have any discomfort?

Men over 40 years old who are long-term heavy smokers (smoking index > 400 cigarettes per year) are at high risk of lung cancer. The smoking index is calculated by multiplying the number of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years of smoking. If high-risk people experience the following symptoms, they should be treated as suspected lung cancer subjects and undergo lung cancer exclusion tests.

1. If an irritating cough occurs without obvious cause and lasts for 2 to 3 weeks, and treatment is ineffective;

2. If the nature of the existing chronic respiratory disease changes, such as the tone of the cough changes;

3. If the sputum contains blood for a long time or repeatedly for a short period of time without any clear reason;

4. If pneumonia recurs in the same area, especially recurrent segmental pneumonia;

5. If there is an unexplained lung abscess, with no symptoms of poisoning, no large amounts of purulent sputum, no history of foreign body aspiration, and the anti-inflammatory treatment is ineffective;

6. Unexplained pain in the joints of the limbs and clubbing of the fingers (toes);

7. When X-ray examination shows localized emphysema or segmental or lobar atelectasis;

8. Solitary round lesions and unilateral enlarged hilar shadows;

9. The original pulmonary tuberculosis or lesions have stabilized, but the morphology or nature has changed;

10. If pleural effusion occurs without symptoms of poisoning, especially when it is bloody and progressively increases.