After hospitalization, he was operated by a cardiothoracic surgeon after a chest CT examination, and the pathology result was “lung cancer”. Knowing this result, Xiao Chen and his family could not believe it, because Xiao Zhao was only 32 years old, usually did not smoke much and did not have any signs of discomfort beforehand, so how did he suffer from lung cancer for no reason?
In fact, about 1/3 of lung cancer patients do not have particularly obvious early symptoms, and some of them do not pay attention to or are misdiagnosed despite having mild early symptoms, so their condition is delayed. 2007, the population incidence rate of lung cancer in China is 62/100,000, so the vast majority of people are healthy and do not need to be overly nervous. However, the majority of lung cancer patients are already in the middle or late stage when they come to the hospital. Therefore, if you have the following symptoms and manifestations, you should go to the hospital for examination in time to avoid delaying the disease.
The most common symptoms of early stage lung cancer are cough, low fever, blood in sputum and persistent chest pain, but they are often easily ignored by patients.
(1) Cough. It is the earliest and most common symptom of lung cancer patients, and it is easy to be ignored because it often resembles cold or bronchitis when it starts. Therefore, anyone who has not had chronic whistling disorders in the past, especially those over 40 years of age, should be alerted to the possibility of lung cancer and should undergo further examination if the cough persists for more than 2-3 weeks after active treatment. As for elderly patients with chronic bronchitis, the incidence of lung cancer is higher than that of the general population, but their early cough symptoms are often easily confused with their existing chronic cough, thus delaying the diagnosis in many cases. At this time, it is important to pay attention to the change of cough nature and cough pattern. Due to the irritation of bronchial mucosa by cancer tissue, patients with lung cancer often have irritating cough and severe cough with little sputum, which is not in accordance with the original four-season pattern.
(2) Fever. Obstructive pneumonia often exists after lung cancer tissues block the bronchial tubes, the degree of which varies from low fever (body temperature between 37 degrees and 38 degrees) in mild cases to high fever (body temperature above 39 degrees) in severe cases, which may temporarily improve after medication but will relapse soon.
(3) Blood in sputum. It is often caused by the invasion of lung cancer tissue into the bronchial mucosa. The amount of blood is usually small, often bloody sputum, and may last for weeks or months or in intermittent episodes. Because of the small amount or intermittent appearance of sputum blood, it is easy to be neglected. In fact, about 1/4 of those who present with bloody sputum in middle age or older are due to lung cancer. Therefore, when unexplained sputum blood appears, it is important not to be paralyzed and it is better to visit a hospital to clarify the cause of coughing up blood.
(4) Chest pain. Chest pain in early stage of lung cancer is mild, mainly manifested as boring pain, vague pain, commonly in one part, and the relationship with whistling is uncertain. Chest pain accounts for more than half of lung cancer patients, especially in peripheral lung cancer, chest pain can be the first symptom, which is due to lung cancer tissue infiltrating the pleura. Therefore, any unexplained chest pain in a fixed location should be examined early.
We know that lung cancer is a malignant tumor occurring in the lung, which is an organ of the respiratory system, therefore, the symptoms are closely related to the location of its occurrence. Generally speaking, lung cancer is divided into central lung cancer and peripheral lung cancer. Central lung cancer generally has slightly earlier symptoms because it occurs in the large bronchial tubes, so coughing, sputum and blood or chest discomfort appear earlier. Peripheral lung cancer may have no obvious symptoms in the early stage, but once the tumor accumulates to the pleura, there will be changes of chest pain; if it develops further, there will be lesions of the pleura, producing pleural effusion.
To detect lung cancer early, large-scale population screening needs to be conducted regularly. Lung cancer experts remind us that the following people belong to the high-risk group of lung cancer and should be highly alert and undergo further examination.
(1) Age above 40 years old, long-term smokers, smoking >20 cigarettes/day for more than 20 years.
(2) Those with unexplained chest pain, hemoptysis and sputum that has failed to respond to treatment.
(3) Recurrent inflammation in the same part of the lung, which has been treated with aggressive anti-inflammatory therapy with poor results
(4) Patients with tuberculosis whose condition has been stabilized by treatment and then suddenly the lesion relapses and worsens, with inflammatory infiltration in a segment or lobe of the lung, localized emphysema or pulmonary atelectasis
(5) Those with a family history and a history of malignancy in the immediate family, especially lung cancer, indicating a poor genetic resistance to anti-cancerous substances
(6) Those who have been exposed to occupational pollution, for example, working in a workplace with radioactive pollution or chemical or physical workplaces that can cause cell damage for a long time.
You may ask, if I do not have any of the symptoms mentioned above, what should I do in order to achieve early diagnosis?
(1) Everyone should insist on annual health check-ups, which is the most important. The annual health checkup should emphasize chest x-ray, which is what we usually call “film”.
(2) It is not good to take only orthopantomographs of the chest, even if they are small. You should also do a standard frontal and lateral chest X-ray. In areas where there are conditions, units where there are conditions, and people where there are conditions, it is also recommended to do a low-dose spiral CT scan of the chest. The price is a little more expensive than a chest X-ray, but it shows more details than a chest X-ray and is better for early diagnosis.
(3) For people who smoke a lot, it is recommended to have a health checkup every six months.
In addition, tumor marker related tests can be done. In conclusion, smokers, people with respiratory symptoms and healthy people should be alert to the occurrence of lung cancer and should pay attention to health checkups to achieve “three early” – early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. After all, life is only once for everyone, and “life is precious”!