Symptoms of lung cancer

Lung cancer is a poten tially deadly disease that affects millions of people across the globe, including patients and their families.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and more people in the country die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer. e LUNGevity Foundation, which advocates for lung cancer awareness, states lung cancer accounts for 12 percent of all new cancer diagnoses.

Lung cancer does not dis criminate based on gender or ethnicity. In fact, lung cancer is so prevalent that it claims more lives than colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined.

Though so many lives are lost to lung cancer, early diagnosis can improve patients' chances for survival.

While most lung cancers do not produce symptoms until they have spread, recognizing potential symptoms can mean getting diagnosed at an earlier stage, when treatment is more likely to be effective.

The following symptoms may be indicative of lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, the CDC and The Mayo Clinic.

• Coughing that does not go away and/or gets worse.

• Chest pain that wors ens with deep breathing, laughing or coughing.

• Coughing up blood, even a small amount.

• Hoarseness of the

voice.

• Unexplainable weight

loss.

• Feeling tired all of the

time.

• Wheezing and short –

ness of breath.

• Repeated bouts of pneumonia or possibly swollen or enlarged lymph nodes in the chest.

While these symptoms may be lung cancer, they also may indicate the presence of another condition. It is important to see a doctor at the first sign of anything abnormal so the cause can be identified and the condition promptly treated.