“What are early symptoms of lung cancer?”
Can lung cancer be identified at an early stage? What are some of the best symptoms to look for in a lung cancer case? I recently quit smoking after being a pack-a-day smoker for 10 years, so I want to be cautious of my lungs' future. I am 45.
1 Answer
As an older pulmonologist , to answer said question , I have to know smoker of what type of cigarette , and whether Marijuana is inhaled too ? Lung cancer from unfiltered cigarettes was usually bronchogenic , in the larger bronchial tubes. Blood was coughed or coughing increased & or pneumonia or chest pains occurred , especially with deep breathing ( plueritic). Filtered cigarettes cause more peripheral lung cancers , so called adenocarcinomas , often with brain metastasis first .Oat cell carcinoma are the least common but are the most aggressive of all types . Lung cancer is the most common cancer in non smokers too. Screening today requires a non contrast lung CT scan with less than 20 seconds of expanded breath holding . Small lung cancers are coin-sized when thereby discovered & are curable by minimal lung resection . The screening CT isn't inexpensive though , is yearly and discovers benign & often confusing nodules too.
