Early symptoms and precursors of lung cancer

Lung cancer is a malignant tumor that originates from the bronchial mucosa or glands of the lungs. Early symptoms and precursors of lung cancer include sudden weight loss, hoarseness, cough, persistent fever, chest pain, etc. Once lung cancer is diagnosed, comprehensive treatment measures such as surgery, nutritional support therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc. can be taken under the guidance of a doctor. The details are as follows:

1. Sudden weight loss: Lung cancer may increase the body's consumption. Lung cancer patients may lose weight due to tumor consumption and loss of appetite. In this case, nutritional support treatment can be taken under the guidance of a doctor, and patients can be given a high-protein, high-vitamin diet, such as meat, eggs, soy products, dairy products, fish, fresh vegetables and fruits, etc. If necessary, nutritional support can be provided through intravenous routes.

2. Hoarseness: This is one of the most common early symptoms of lung cancer, and about 5% to 20% of lung cancer patients will experience this symptom. This type of hoarseness occurs suddenly and progresses rapidly. In severe cases, the patient may even lose his voice completely. In this case, radiotherapy, surgery, or drug therapy can be used to relieve the compression symptoms.

3. Cough: Cough is a common symptom of early lung cancer. It is similar to common cough symptoms and can be easily misdiagnosed as a cold or bronchitis. If the cough lasts for a long time, even more than three weeks, and there is no significant improvement after conventional treatment, you need to be alert to the possibility of lung cancer. In this case, you can take medication under the guidance of a doctor, such as using benproperine phosphate, dextromethorphan, etc. as prescribed by the doctor. If the cough is severe, you can also consider radiotherapy or surgery.

4. Continuous fever: About one-third of lung cancer patients will have symptoms of continuous fever in the early stage. This fever is usually caused by inflammatory fever and cancer fever caused by lung cancer, which is different from the common cold fever. In this case, anti-infection treatment can be taken under the guidance of a doctor, and penicillins and cephalosporins can be used as prescribed by the doctor. Or antipyretic drugs such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, etc. can be used.

5. Chest pain: About 50% of lung cancer patients will experience chest pain. This chest pain usually worsens when coughing, taking a deep breath, or changing body position. It may be caused by the tumor invading the pleura or ribs. In this case, you can take measures such as drug treatment or radiotherapy under the guidance of a doctor to relieve the pain symptoms.

The early symptoms of lung cancer are usually mild and easy to be ignored. Early detection and treatment are crucial to improving cure and survival rates. The above symptoms and precursors do not appear in every patient, and the above symptoms do not necessarily indicate the occurrence of lung cancer. Therefore, the most reliable method is to have regular physical examinations, especially regular screening of high-risk groups, to detect and treat early.