Harnessing innate immune pathways for therapeutic advancement in cancer
'I Have Stage 4 Lung Cancer – This Is The Biggest Lie People Tell You About Disease'
A woman with stage 4 lung cancer has opened up about the biggest lie people tell you about the disease.
The unnamed mum-of-three took to the TikTok channel Young Lung Cancer Is A Thing where she said she was approaching the one-year anniversary of her diagnosis. But before she received the bad news, she had believed that, as a non-smoker, she was not at risk.
In the video, she said: "One of the biggest lies I was taught is, if you don't smoke cigarettes, you won't get lung cancer. Well, I am a non-smoker, and in November of 2023 I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer.
"I have a husband and three young kids – nine, six and three – and to say that it has rocked our world and turned our life upside down would be a complete understatement. It's been a gruelling several months, with different treatments – radiation, surgery.
"I am finally able to stop treading water under the weight of this diagnosis and can come up for air and see what's happening in the world around me, and I'm astonished to see so many other young people who also have this diagnosis.
"As I approach my one-year mark, it feels important to turn some of this anguish into advocacy. [...] I'm here to reiterate that anybody who has lungs is at risk of getting lung cancer."
According to the US' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 10 and 20% of lung cancers occur in people who have never smoked or people who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. This equates to about 20,000 to 40,000 diagnoses each year.
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of lung cancer are: a cough that does not go away after 3 weeks; a long-standing cough that gets worse; chest infections that keep coming back; coughing up blood; an ache or pain when breathing or coughing; persistent breathlessness; persistent tiredness or lack of energy; and loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss.
Less common symptoms can also include: changes in the appearance of your fingers, such as becoming more curved or their ends becoming larger (this is known as finger clubbing); difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) or pain when swallowing; wheezing; a hoarse voice; swelling of your face or neck; persistent chest or shoulder pain.
The health service recommends you see your GP if you have any symptoms of lung cancer, including the less common ones.
'Doctors Told Me I Had Stage 4 Cancer At 29 After I Kept Ignoring Common Sign'
Despite frequent discussions, some individuals remain unaware of the common signs of cancer.
Symptoms can vary and are sometimes not immediately obvious. Stephen, a man who was diagnosed with lung cancer at 29, has shared his story in a video that has since gone viral.
He was taken aback by the diagnosis as he hadn't noticed any significant health issues initially, even though he had experienced one of the typical symptoms. Before his stage 4 diagnosis, Stephen recalled feeling unusually short of breath, which he initially dismissed as a normal sign of ageing due to a lack of daily exercise.
However, this assumption proved to be dangerously incorrect.
Stephen recounted: "I was getting out of breath quickly, and I was doing student teaching, and I was just having a hard time you know with coughing - just like, persistent coughing. But it was interruptive coughing is what I remember the most.
"I would just be casually talking and all of a sudden I would have to cough real quick. They were actually just getting more in the way to the point now where I couldn't ignore them.
"I was trying to lie down at night, and go to sleep, and I was having a really hard time breathing, and I felt like I was always just trying to cough to clear my throat."
Then, one day while driving home from school, Stephen was rubbing his neck when he felt a "very hard nodule" on his collarbone. After a visit to the doctor who initially diagnosed bronchitis and dismissed the nodule due to Stephen's youth, he found himself at the heart of an alarming medical revelation.
The story, shared via the @younglungcancerisathing account, has since garnered hundreds of views, with many expressing shock at the narrative. One commenter said: "My son was 16 when he got lung cancer. He passed away seven years after."
Another said: "So sorry, don't give up the fight. Cancer sucks."
Echoing the concerns, another person added: "The interruptive cough. Definitely one of the biggest symptoms."
The NHS acknowledges lung cancer's early stages can be insidious and symptomless, but as the disease advances, signs begin to manifest.
Among the principal symptoms of lung cancer noted are:
I've Been Coughing Up Blood But Doctors Can't Find A Problem. What Do I Do?
OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice.
Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader who has been coughing up blood.
1
Dr Zoe helps a reader who has been coughing up bloodCredit: Olivia WestQ: I had a health scare in June where I coughed up a blood clot.
I had a fast-track cancer appointment and was investigated.
Nothing was found. Six months on I had another episode.
My GP said to let him know if it happens again with no explanation of why.
A: Coughing up blood from the lungs is called haemoptysis and it's a symptom that can have several causes.
Lung cancer is one potential cause and the most serious, so unexplained haemoptysis usually triggers an urgent referral for lung cancer to be ruled out.
Other causes include infection (like tuberculosis), a blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism), or bleeding abnormality.
And it's always good to consider if the blood has come from the throat, mouth or stomach and irritated the airway – hence being coughed out.
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Blood cancer symptoms and signsThe urgent clinics are just tasked with ruling out cancer, so I suspect your GP wasn't able to give you an explanation beyond ruling out cancer.
One-off episodes also occur.
But because it has happened again, I'd advise you to return to your GP, so they can take a detailed history and consider any further tests.
You may benefit from a routine respiratory referral for a more comprehensive review, now that cancer is deemed unlikely.
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