Early diagnosis of cancer ensures the best chance for successful treatment, and detecting symptoms is key to this.
Symptoms of lung cancer can be difficult to spot as they’re often not apparent until the condition has progressed.
But to help out, Dr Monica Peres Oikeh outlined the red flags to look out for.
The Irish doctor, based in Cork, and with more than 64,000 followers on TikTok, listed six symptoms to look out for:
- A cough that doesn’t go away after three weeks
- Hoarseness
- Coughing up blood
- Unexplained weight loss
- Shortness of breath
- A change in your normal cough (especially smokers)
What is a lung cancer cough like?
A persistent cough is perhaps the most recognised symptom of lung cancer, according to Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
The charity advises: “If you have had a cough for three weeks or more, or you have a cough that has changed or got worse and you have had a negative Covid test, you must contact your GP surgery.
“People often expect a lung cancer cough to be quite a severe cough, but there isn’t any particular type of cough which is more linked to lung cancer. People can have very chesty coughs, or they can have very subtle tickly coughs, like a constant clearing of your throat. A cough that is caused by lung cancer can be both wet and dry. It is more about the length of time you have the cough, rather than the type of cough you have.”
Other symptoms of lung cancer to look out for
Coughing up blood, unexplained weight loss and shortness of breath are among the “main” symptoms of lung cancer, according to the NHS.
Some other common symptoms to look out for include:
- An ache or pain when breathing or coughing
- Persistent tiredness of lack of energy
A hoarse voice is considered a less common symptom by the health service.
Other less common symptoms include:
- changes in the appearance of your fingers, such as becoming more curved or their ends becoming larger (this is known as finger clubbing)
- difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) or pain when swallowing
- wheezing
- swelling of your face or neck
- persistent chest or shoulder pain
Dr Monica Peres Oikeh’s parting message in her video was: “Make sure you visit your doctor if you have any of these symptoms.”