What are the symptoms of lung cancer at different stages? 5 symptoms of advanced lung cancer before death

As we all know, lung cancer is a malignant tumor of the lungs. Once you have lung cancer, it will bring a heavy burden to our lives and cause great harm to the body. So do we know about the symptoms of lung cancer at different stages? Here is a brief introduction for everyone:

Warning signs of lung cancer

1. People who smoke for a long time have frequent coughing and blood in their sputum.

2. Repeated inflammatory changes occur in a certain part of the lungs.

3. Localized increase in lung lesions or localized emphysema that cannot be explained by ordinary bronchitis.

4. Lung auscultation may reveal localized wheezing, whistling, and snoring sounds that are not changed by coughing.

5. Sudden dry cough or choking cough for more than two weeks, and anti-inflammatory treatment is ineffective, or the original slow cough suddenly changes in nature.

6. Sudden blood in sputum and unbearable chest pain without obvious explanation.

Early symptoms of lung cancer

1. Asymptomatic

About one-third of lung cancer patients do not have any obvious early symptoms, and their lesions can only be detected early through regular examinations.

2. Cough

Lung cancer has different symptoms due to its different locations and functional damage. Since tumors mostly grow on large bronchi and are highly irritating, coughing is easy to occur. However, the degree of cough varies. About 50% of patients have irritating coughs, no sputum or a little white foamy sputum. After secondary infection, the quality of sputum also changes. If people with chronic cough find that the nature of their cough is different from usual, they should be alert. Patients of high-risk age should see a doctor as soon as possible when the cough is ineffective after treatment or lasts for a long time. Those with hemoptysis should see a doctor earlier.

3. Coughing up blood

This is special in early lung cancer cases. For example, in central lung cancer, coughing up blood often occurs in the early and middle stages of the disease. The amount of blood is not much, and the blood is bright red or mixed with foam. The reason for this phenomenon is that the surface of the tumor is rich in blood vessels. Coughing damages the surface layer, causing blood vessels to rupture. If there is occasional coughing up blood, it often recurs or only lasts for a long period of time.

4. Hoarseness

This is the most important early feature of lung cancer, and it is also a new discovery that domestic and foreign experts have been exploring in recent years. Hoarseness can occur in pharyngitis, colds and acute bronchitis; after thyroid surgery and pharyngeal surgery; it can also occur after improper voice and excessive speaking or even after smoking and drinking a lot. However, this type of hoarseness can generally be treated symptomatically or healed by rest. The hoarseness caused by lung cancer, thyroid cancer and laryngeal cancer is completely different from the above hoarseness, especially lung cancer. Other early symptoms of lung pain, such as cough, chest pain, hemoptysis, etc., lack characteristic features, while hoarseness has certain specificity. According to statistics, about 20% to 30% of lung cancer patients may experience hoarseness at different stages of the disease, including the early stage, of which central lung cancer can be as high as 40%. The pathology of hoarseness caused by lung cancer is that the tumor invades and compresses the nerves that control the vocal cords. This hoarseness often occurs suddenly, progresses rapidly, and even completely loses the voice. At the same time, most patients are accompanied by chest pain, etc., and rest and anti-inflammatory symptomatic treatment for more than two weeks are still ineffective.

5. Fever

When central lung cancer grows in the bronchus and develops to the point where the lumen is semi-obstructed or completely obstructed, obstructive pneumonia may occur. The fever is generally around 38°C and can be easily reduced with anti-inflammatory treatment. However, if the obstructive lesions are not removed, pneumonia will reappear soon, forming recurrent pneumonia.

Symptoms before death in advanced lung cancer

1. Facial and neck edema

On the right side of the mediastinum is the superior vena cava, which returns venous blood from the upper limbs and head and neck 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 swell 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.

2. Chest pain

This is a symptom of death in the late stage of localized 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. Recommended reading:

3. Hoarseness

It is the most common symptom of advanced lung cancer before death. The recurrent laryngeal nerve that controls the left side of the vocal 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 vocal 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.

4. Pleural effusion and shortness of breath.

Lung cancer patients will eventually experience shortness of breath in some degree in patients with regional spread of lung cancer. Normal tissue fluid produced by the lungs and myocardium is returned by the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest. If these lymph nodes are blocked by tumors, this tissue fluid will accumulate in the pericardium to form pericardial effusion or accumulate in the chest cavity to form pleural effusion.

5. Shoulder pain

A special area of ​​the chest wall is formed around the top of the lung, the apex of the lung. The nerve fibers from the neck that control the sensation and movement of the upper limbs enter the upper limbs through this area. Therefore, if the tumor invades this area, pain and fatigue will often be felt in the upper limb on the affected side. This so-called "Pancoster cancer", or superior sulcus cancer, is a type of lung cancer and often presents shoulder pain as the main symptom. This pain often requires analgesics to relieve. Usually, such patients are easily sent to plastic surgeons or neurologists for treatment, thus losing the opportunity for early diagnosis.