What are the initial symptoms of lung cancer?

by Symptom Advice on December 6, 2010

Nobody ever says, oh, you will feel this and that… it always seems to be diagnosed with an x-ray. What, if any, are the signs before that?

Dull upper back pain, SOB and night sweats. these are symptoms my mom had before she was diagnosed

Most cancers don't have any symptoms until more advanced.

Seeing blood is one of the most common late symptoms we see that makes people seek help…..things like bloody stools leading to them being diagnosed with colon cancer, coughing up blood might lead to a diagnosis of lung cancer, and women bleeding vaginally when not expected might lead to diagnosis of cervical cancer or uterine/endometrial cancer.

but there are other possibilities on why someone would be seeing blood, so don't assume it's cancer when you see it…..but when I talk to someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, there is a blood symptom somewhere in the story usually.

Other symptoms of cancer can be very vague…..feeling tired and weak, shortness of breath with very little activity, etc

The best way to avoid cancer is to lead a healthy life by not smoking, not drinking excessively, eating healthy whole foods, and getting plenty of water and exercise…..and see your doctor regularly for cancer screenings when age appropriate with things like mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.

But, you are right that it always seems to be diagnosed with xrays or something. since cancer has few early symptoms and the symptoms that are there are vague, people usually find out they have cancer when they are getting a routine xray or work up for something else.

Hope this helps

I suppose ethe answer isn't lungs

Lung cancer doesn't generally present with symptoms eaarly on. Unfortunately, this is one of those cancers that doesn't present with symptoms until the tumor has grown very large and may have even metastasized to other parts of the body. the good news is that there are a lot of new, more aggressive treatments available now for lung cancer. If you have any concerns, it won't hurt to have a chest x-ray or an MRI to examine the current health status of your lungs.

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