Lung cancer can start in the windpipe (trachea), the main airway (bronchus) or the lung tissue. It usually grows and spreads more slowly than small cell lung cancer. It is also called Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
There are three forms of NSCLC:
i. Adenocarcinomas are often found in an outer area of the lung.
ii. Squamous cell carcinomas are usually found in the center of the lung by an air tube (bronchus).
iii. Large cell carcinomas can occur in any part of the lung. They tend to grow and spread faster than the other two types.
General symptoms of lung cancer
The symptoms of lung cancer may include
- Having a cough most of the time
- A change in a cough you have had for a long time
- Being short of breath
- Coughing up phlegm (sputum) with signs of blood in it
- Wheezing
- An ache or pain in the chest when breathing or coughing
- Loss of appetite
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Losing weight
Less common symptoms of lung cancer
Other less common symptoms of lung cancer are usually associated with more advanced lung cancer. They include:
- A hoarse voice (changing voice)
- Swallowing difficulty
- Changes in the shape of your fingers and nails called finger clubbing
- Joint pain
- Swelling of the face caused by a blockage of a main blood vessel (superior vena cava obstruction)
- Swelling in the neck caused by enlarged lymph nodes
- A constant ache or pain in your chest or shoulder that has lasted some time
- Pain or discomfort under your ribs on your right side (from cancer cells in the liver)
- Shortness of breath caused by fluid around the lungs (called a pleural effusion)
- Bone pain or tenderness
Tests that may be performed include:
- Chest x-ray
- CBC
- Sputum test
- Bone scan
- CT scan
- MRI
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
- Thoracentesis
In some cases, the health care provider may need to remove a piece of tissue from your lungs for examination under a microscope. This is called a biopsy. There are several ways to do this:
- Bronchoscopy combined with biopsy
- Pleural biopsy
- CT scan directed needle biopsy
- Mediastinoscopy with biopsy
- Open lung biopsy
- Endoscopic esophageal ultrasound (EUS) with biopsy
If the biopsy reveals you do have lung cancer, more imaging tests will be done to determine the stage of the cancer. Stage means how big the tumor is and how far it's spread. Non-small cell lung cancer is divided into five stages:
Stage 0 - the cancer has not spread beyond the inner lining of the lung
Stage I - the cancer is small and hasn't spread to the lymph nodes
Stage II - the cancer has spread to some lymph nodes near the original tumor
Stage III - the cancer has spread to nearby tissue or spread to far away lymph nodes
Stage IV - the cancer has spread to other organs of the body such as the other lung, brain, or liver
