Published on 12 November 2020
A cough could be a sign of cancer, not just of Covid – that’s the message from specialist cancer nurses at East Kent Hospitals.
The team are concerned that people who develop a persistent cough automatically assume it is Covid related and don’t seek further investigations, when in fact it could be a sign of lung cancer.
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and Toni Fleming, one of the Trust’s Macmillan lung cancer nurse specialists, said it was an opportunity to remind people of the symptoms.
She said: “Anyone can develop lung cancer; men and women, young and old, smokers and non-smokers.
“If you have lungs, you can get the disease so it is very important everyone is aware of lung cancer signs and symptoms.
“At the moment, if you hear a cough you automatically think Covid. But a persistent cough that lasts for three weeks or more, or that changes or gets worse, is also one of the most common symptoms of lung cancer and must not be ignored.”
Other symptoms to be aware of include chest pain, cough, shortness of breath or unusual lumps under the skin on your chest.
Patients also often develop a hoarse voice, shoulder pain, may have repeated chest infections, and lose weight when they are not trying to.
There are around 46,0000 lung cancer cases each year and it is the most common cause of cancer death for both men and women.
Toni works at both the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital and Kent and Canterbury Hospital with Sharon Gill, while Jackie Motta and Jennifer Santer look after lung cancer patients at the William Harvey Hospital.
For more information on the symptoms visit https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/lung-cancer/signs-and-symptoms-of-lung-cancer or https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lung-cancer/
