Does early-stage lung cancer cause facial swelling?

Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
Updated on November 23, 2024
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Patients with early-stage lung cancer generally do not experience facial swelling. This is because early-stage lung cancers mainly include carcinoma in situ and stage I lung cancer. At this stage, the cancer tissue is confined to the mucosa, without invasion of the surrounding tissues or distant metastasis. Therefore, the clinical symptoms of patients with early-stage lung cancer primarily involve the respiratory system. Clinical symptoms mainly include coughing, often a dry cough without phlegm, or coughing up phlegm with blood, hemoptysis, and massive hemoptysis. Some patients may experience chest pain, or have a barking cough, or a metallic-sounding cough. Some patients may have shortness of breath after physical activity, and severe cases can experience breathing difficulties. In most cases, patients do not exhibit other clinical changes. However, as the disease progresses, and there is invasion into surrounding tissues, or distant metastases occur, symptoms of invasion into surrounding tissues or distant metastatic sites may appear. For example, metastasis to the cervical lymph nodes can cause enlarged lymph nodes, or compression of the superior vena cava by the patient, resulting in swelling of the face and neck.

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Written by Hu Zhong Dong
Medical Oncology
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incidence of lung cancer

In recent years, the incidence of tumors has continued to rise, becoming a major killer threatening public health. According to global cancer statistics from 2015, in 2012, there were approximately 14 million new cases of cancer worldwide. Among these, lung cancer had an incidence of 1.8 million, accounting for 13% of all cancer cases. It is the type of cancer most frequently diagnosed and is also the leading cause of cancer death among men globally and women in developed countries. So, what is the current situation of lung cancer incidence in our country? The National Health Commission has stated that in 2014, there were about 3.804 million new cancer cases in China, with lung cancer having the highest incidence at 181,000 cases. Lung cancer presents complex clinical symptoms and its early symptoms are relatively mild, leading many patients to seek medical advice only in the late stages, thereby missing the optimal treatment window.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
1min 28sec home-news-image

Does early-stage lung cancer cause facial swelling?

Patients with early-stage lung cancer generally do not experience facial swelling. This is because early-stage lung cancers mainly include carcinoma in situ and stage I lung cancer. At this stage, the cancer tissue is confined to the mucosa, without invasion of the surrounding tissues or distant metastasis. Therefore, the clinical symptoms of patients with early-stage lung cancer primarily involve the respiratory system. Clinical symptoms mainly include coughing, often a dry cough without phlegm, or coughing up phlegm with blood, hemoptysis, and massive hemoptysis. Some patients may experience chest pain, or have a barking cough, or a metallic-sounding cough. Some patients may have shortness of breath after physical activity, and severe cases can experience breathing difficulties. In most cases, patients do not exhibit other clinical changes. However, as the disease progresses, and there is invasion into surrounding tissues, or distant metastases occur, symptoms of invasion into surrounding tissues or distant metastatic sites may appear. For example, metastasis to the cervical lymph nodes can cause enlarged lymph nodes, or compression of the superior vena cava by the patient, resulting in swelling of the face and neck.

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Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
1min 12sec home-news-image

How is lung cancer caused?

The specific causes of lung cancer are not completely clear, but there are some high-risk factors. Research has shown that lung cancer is influenced by a combination of genetic defects and internal and external environmental carcinogens. It is undeniable that long-term heavy smoking is the most important carcinogenic factor for lung cancer, with the amount and duration of smoking being positively correlated with the incidence of lung cancer. Secondly, environmental factors, such as working with asbestos or in mining areas, are also very relevant to the incidence of lung cancer. Thirdly, irregular eating habits, rest, alcohol consumption, indoor combustion, coal smoke, fumes from kitchen cooking, and carcinogenic substances released from indoor decorations and materials are also related. Fourthly, the body's internal immune status, metabolic abnormalities, genetic factors, and chronic lung infections also have a significant impact.

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Written by Yang Feng
Pulmonology
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Symptoms of malignant transformation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Firstly, cancer transformation is not the main complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but both COPD and lung cancer share a common cause, which is smoking. Therefore, COPD and lung cancer are generally considered two different diseases, and the symptoms of COPD combined with lung cancer are mainly those of lung cancer, typically including irritating dry cough, blood-streaked sputum, weight loss, etc. Thus, lung imaging studies can be used to preliminarily determine the possibility of cancer in patients, and further diagnostic steps can be chosen based on the patient’s imaging and related symptoms, including biopsy, bronchoscopy, etc.

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Written by An Yong Peng
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Can early-stage lung cancer cause shoulder pain?

In the early stages of lung cancer, it generally does not cause shoulder pain. Early-stage lung cancer often does not involve critical structures and typically does not produce noticeable clinical symptoms. However, a small number of central lung cancers may cause symptoms related to coughing. Moreover, shoulder pain can occur in cases of lung cancer, often seen in superior sulcus tumors. A superior sulcus tumor, also known as a Pancoast tumor, is a tumor located at the top of the lung. As the tumor grows, it may compress the brachial plexus nerves, leading to symptoms such as shoulder pain and throat pain. It can also cause symptoms like enophthalmos (sunken eyeball) and pupil constriction. Therefore, when encountering these signs clinically, it is necessary to consider the possibility of a superior sulcus tumor and conduct examinations like a chest CT scan for evaluation.