Lung cancer is perhaps the scariest sounding type of cancer as it has been known to kill millions of people that it affects. As this is a very serious type of cancer, it is vital to catch it as early as possible so that the chance of survival increases. When you catch lung cancer or adenocarcinoma early enough, you have a 50% chance of surviving it and not having it spread to other vital organs in the body causing them to shut down.

In order to catch it early, you need to know the early warning signs of squamous cell cancer, it can truly be the difference between life and death:

1. Shortness of breath

If you are a relatively healthy and active person that does not get winded often, and you suddenly begin finding yourself losing your breath after very milf workouts or movements, then that should make your ears start to prick up. It is a definite sign that there is something wrong. While it could mean that there are other issues like asthma or pneumonia going on, it should still be checked out quickly so that it can be found and treated aggressively.

2. Coughs that won’t go away

It is true that after having a cold or allergies or some sort of respiratory sickness, you can have a cough that holds on tight for a week or so. While this is normal, having a cough, dry or productive, that lasts for eight weeks or longer with no other symptoms is far from normal. Many people dismiss this symptom saying they just have a lingering cold, but it is vital to get the cough checked out if it stays around for longer than a couple of weeks as a delay can lead to slow cancer detection meaning treating it will be harder.

Aside from a cough staying around for a long time, also pay attention to how your cough sounds. If it sounds particularly chesty and produces things like blood, huge amounts of mucus, and rust-colored phlegm, then you should get to the doctor without any hesitation.

3. Extreme unintentional weight loss

It is one thing to start seeing dramatic weight loss if you are purposefully trying to lose weight through diet and exercise, it is another thing entirely if you are not cutting out any food or doing anything different and you see a dramatic loss in your weight. If you then notice that you never get hungry and have no desire to eat, you may very well have a tumor. Large cell carcinoma cancers also cause your metabolism to spike as your body starts to work harder to heal the cancer in your lungs. If you notice that you are losing weight at an alarming rate, you should get to the doctor immediately.

4. Pain within the chest

This is perhaps the biggest early-stage symptom of lung cancer. THis is a chest pain that can be felt deep within the chest where the lungs are located. It will hurt to laugh, cough, and even lift very light items. It is this type of persistent pain in the chest that does not go away that can be a sign that you have lung cancer as it happens because there is a tumor growing and pressing against nerves on the lungs and causing pain. You will also know if it spreads as the pain will spread everywhere that it does.

Lung cancer is a very serious form of the disease and can be particularly nasty to treat, but it is not impossible and the diagnosis is not a death sentence. The earlier you catch it, the better your chances of treatment are.