Lung Cancer Symptoms: What You Should Know

Lung cancer usually has no symptoms in its early stages. When signs of the disease start to appear, they can include:

  • Chronic, hacking, raspy coughing, sometimes with mucusthat has blood in it
  • Changes in a coughthat you’ve had for a long time
  • Respiratory infections that keep coming back, including bronchitisor pneumonia
  • Shortness of breath that gets worse
  • Wheezing
  • Lasting chest pain
  • Hoarseness
  • Swelling of the neck and face
  • Painand weakness in the shoulder, arm, or hand
  • Fatigue, weakness, loss of weightand appetite, fever that comes and goes, severe headaches, and body pain
  • Trouble swallowing

These problems usually happen because of blocked breathing passages or because the cancer has spread farther into the lung, nearby areas, or other parts of the body.