Lung Cancer Facts:

Lung Cancer:

Symptoms

Many people do not have symptoms, or have only vague symptoms, until the disease has progressed significantly. As a result, only 15% of lung cancers are discovered in early stages, when the possibility of curative treatment is greatest. When lung cancer does cause symptoms, they can include:
• Coughing
• Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• Fatigue
• Chest, shoulder, upper back, or arm pain
• Repeated pneumonia or bronchitis
• Blood coughed up in sputum (hemoptysis)
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• General pain
• Hoarseness
• Wheezing
• Swelling in the face or neck
Sometimes, symptoms may seem unrelated to the lungs or breathing. Because lung cancer usually is diagnosed in a later stage, the primary cancer may have already spread to the other lung or other parts of the body. Depending upon where the cancer spreads and which organs are affected, symptoms can also include headaches, bleeding, weakness, bone fractures, or blood clots.

Many people with early lung cancer do not have symptoms, so the disease is often not diagnosed until after it has spread. A person who experiences any of the following symptoms should see a doctor:
• a cough or chest pain that doesn't go away
• a wheezing sound when breathing
• shortness of breath
• coughing up blood
• hoarseness
• swelling in the face and neck

Lung Cancer Alliance:
On Wednesday, October 26, 2006 the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper by Claudia Henschke, MD and David Yankelevitz, MD founders and principle investigators of the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP) on the results of their 13 year study on screening for lung cancer.
The landmark study found that with CT Screening lung cancer can be detected at the earliest stage (Stage I) in 85% of patients and can lead to an estimated 10 year survival rate of 88%. The estimated 10 year survival rate goes even higher, to 92%, for those whose early detected cancers are removed immediately.