Lung Cancer Flashcards
What are the risk factors for carcinomas of the bronchus ?
Smoking Passive smoking Asbestos Arsenic FH
– always ask for occupation !!
Common symptoms of lung cancer ?
Cough
Haemoptysis
Dyspnoea
Chest pain
Weight loss, fever, night sweats
Clubbing
A lung cancer can compress several structures. Which syndromes / symptoms can occur?
Hoarse voice - recurrent laryngeal nerve
Superior vena Cana syndrome
- impaired venous backflow
- fullness sensation in head
- oedema in face and extremities
- prominent venous pattern
Phrenic nerve
- elevated diaphragm and dyspnoea
Malignant pleural effusion
Paraneoplastic syndrome
Dysphagia
- when lymph nodes compress oesophagus
Differentiate between the different types of lung cancer
Small cell Non small cell -adenocarcinoma - squamous cell carcinoma -large cell carcinoma
A small cell lung carcinoma can have additional features due to its origin . Which ones?
Arise from endocrine cells ( kulchitsky cells )
- paraneoplastic syndromes !
Cushing’s
SIADH
Lambort - eaton syndrome
Non-small cell lung cancers can have additional symptoms that don’t involve the respiratory system.
Which ones?
Hypercalcaemia
Gynaecomastia
Clubbing of fingers and toes
What’s a pancoast tumour and what can it cause?
A peripheral lung carcinoma at lung apex
Causes Horner syndrome
- miosis
- partial ptosis
- facial anhidrosis (absence of sweating)
- —> tumour interrupting sympathetic nervous supply
Severe pain in axilla and shoulder
Atrophy of muscles in arm
Oedema of arm and face
In lung cancer , what can be seen in an X-ray ?
Solitary nodule (tumour) Or cavitary lesions Atelectasis Post obstructive pneumonia Pleural effusion Mediastinal widening
Whats a mesothelioma ?
And what is it associated with?
Primary malignant CA developing from mesothelial cells ( line body cavities : pleura , peritoneum , pericardium , Testes )
– pleural thickening and effusion
Asbestos exposure
