Beware Of Lung Cancer Symptoms That Appear On Shoulders, Here's The Explanation

Illustration of lung cancer (Photo: Freepik/vgstockstudio)

JAKARTA - Lung cancer is known as a disease that affects the respiratory system with typical symptoms such as chronic cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain. However, did you know that some types of lung cancer can also show unexpected symptoms, such as shoulder pain?

shoulder pain is not a common symptom of lung cancer, so it is often overlooked or misinterpreted as a muscle problem, joints, or body posture.

In fact, in some cases, these symptoms can be an important sign of certain types of lung cancer, especially if tumors grow in certain locations in the lungs.

Here are the types of lung cancer that can cause shoulder pain, as reported by the Times of India page.

1. Tumor Pancoast

This is a type of small non-cell lung cancer (non-small cell lung cancer) that grows at the top of the lungs (apeks). Due to its location close to nerves and blood vessels leading to the arms and shoulders, this tumor often causes severe pain in the shoulders, upper back, and even spreads to the arms. These symptoms are known as Pancoast Syndrome.

2. Metastasis

Advanced stage lung cancer spreads (metastasis) to the bones around the shoulders, such as the bone of the upper arm. This can cause persistent pain, especially if the sufferer moves or lifts the load.

There are types of small, non-cell lung cancer that are often undetected until the disease has spread outside the lung area. This condition is known as advanced lung cancer or metastasis. At this stage, cancer cells can attack and damage various parts of the body, such as bones, vital organs, neural tissue, to muscles.

One of the symptoms that may arise from this spread is intense pain on the shoulder. This happens because muscle tissue around the shoulder can be affected by cancer cells that have spread from the lungs. Therefore, the pain in the shoulder that does not improve needs to be watched out for as a possible sign that cancer has spread to the area.

In addition to shoulder pain, other symptoms that can accompany include:

- Weakness on the arm

- Sensation like needles (satisfiedness)

- Chronic cough or bleeding cough

- Short breath

- Weight loss for no reason

- Fatigue that doesn't improve with rest

- Respiratory tract infections that often recur

If the shoulder pain is accompanied by the symptoms above, especially if you have a history of smoking or being exposed to cigarette smoke in the long term, you should immediately consult a doctor for further examination.

Early detection of lung cancer is very important because most of the new cases are found when they enter advanced stages. Supporting examinations such as chest X-rays, CT scans, and biopsy can help accurately enforce diagnosis.

The best step to prevent lung cancer is not smoking, avoiding exposure to cigarette smoke (a passive smoker), and maintaining a healthy and pollution-free environment. For those who have risk factors, undergoing regular screening can increase the chances of detecting cancer early on.