YOUR CANCER YOUR LIFE – SYMPTOMS OF EXTENSIVE (METASTATIC) DISEASE (CANCER IN THE LUNG)
Cancer in the lungs causes difficulty in breathing. The job of the lungs is to put oxygen into the blood and take waste gases such as carbon dioxide out. If part of the lung is destroyed, the rest of the lung has to work harder to do this. This means the patient needs to breath faster and gets puffed out easily on exertion. Breathing extra oxygen, especially at times of exertion, helps the lungs to get enough oxygen into the blood. Other symptoms may include a cough and wheezing. As with the liver, pain is not common. It only occurs if the cancer grows through or stretches the sensitive outer lining of the lung. This lining is called the pleura (it is what gets inflamed in pleurisy). Sometimes, breathlessness is due to fluid forming outside the lung. If this happens it is often possible to take the fluid off with a needle or tube through the skin. This can give very good but temporary relief as the fluid will form again unless the cancer that is producing it can be successfully treated. Breathing extra oxygen allows the damaged lung to get enough oxygen into the blood only up to a certain point. If too much of the lungs are destroyed, oxygen in the blood drops and carbon dioxide builds up, gradually causing drowsiness and loss of consciousness and death.
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