Lung Cancer (Bronchial Carcinoma): Complications

The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by bronchial carcinoma (lung cancer):

Respiratory system (J00-J99)

Eyes and eye appendages (H00-H59).

  • Amaurosis (blindness)

Blood, blood-forming organs – immune system (D50-D90).

  • Coagulation disorders

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic disorders (E00-E90).

  • Hypercalcemia (calcium excess) due to tumor hypercalcemia (tumor-induced hypercalcemia, TIH).

Factors influencing health status and leading to health care utilization (Z00-Z99).

  • Suicide (420 percent more suicides than the normal population).

Skin and subcutaneous (L00-L99).

  • Acanthosis nigricans – papillomatous to keratotic skin lesions occurring mainly on the face, axillae, and flexures of the joints.

Cardiovascular system (I00-I99).

  • Arterial thromboembolism (increase in myocardial infarctions/heart attacks and apoplexy/strokes): cumulative incidence increases to 8.3% in the first six months after diagnosis (controls: 2.4%)
  • Infiltration of pericardium and myocardium with subsequent arrhythmias or heart failure.
  • Pulmonary hypertension (PH) (pulmonary hypertension).
  • Thrombosis
  • Trousseau syndrome (thrombophlebitis migrans) – occurrence of multiple superficial phlebitis.
  • Superior vena cava syndrome (VCSS) – symptom complex resulting from venous outflow obstruction of the superior vena cava (VCS; superior vena cava); clinical presentation:
    • Congested and dilated veins of the neck (jugular venous congestion), head and arms.
    • Feeling of pressure in the head or neck
    • Cephalgia (headache)
    • Other symptoms depending on the cause: dyspnea (shortness of breath), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), stridor (whistling breathing sound that occurs during inhalation and/or exhalation), cough, cyanosis (bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes).

Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99).

  • Fractures (bone fractures)
  • Dermatomyositis – disease belonging to the collagenoses, which affects the skin and muscles and is associated mainly with diffuse pain on movement.

Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48).

Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99).

  • Chronic pain
  • Brain degeneration
  • Horner syndrome – due to local spread of the tumor or. Pancoast tumor (synonym: apical sulcus tumor) – rapidly progressive peripheral bronchial carcinoma in the area of the apex of the lung (apex pulmonis); rapidly spreading to the ribs, soft tissues of the neck, brachial plexus (ventral branches of the spinal nerves of the last four cervical and first thoracic segments (C5-Th1)) and vertebrae of the cervical and thoracic spine (cervical spine, thoracic spine)); disease often manifests with a characteristic Pancoast syndrome: shoulder or Arm pain, rib pain, paresthesia (sensory disturbances) in the forearm, paresis (paralysis), hand muscle atrophy, upper influence congestion due to constriction of the jugular veins, Horner’s syndrome (triad associated with miosis (pupil constriction), ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid) and pseudoenophthalmos (apparently sunken eyeball)).
  • Infiltration of the brachial plexus (nerve plexus consisting of the ventral branches of the spinal nerves of the last four cervical and first thoracic segments (C5-Th1)); symptoms: pain, paresthesias (insensations), and paralysis of the arm
  • Lambert-Eaton syndrome – autoimmune disease leading to muscle weakness and reflex loss.
  • Neuropathies (nerve damage)

Symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory parameters, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99).

  • Dysphagia (dysphagia).
  • Dysphonia (hoarseness)
  • Dyspnea (shortness of breath)
  • Cachexia (emaciation; very severe emaciation).
  • Suicidality (suicidal tendency)

Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract – reproductive organs) (N00-N99).

  • Glomerulonephritis – inflammation of the kidneys, usually affecting both kidneys and may have various causes.
  • Nephrotic syndrome – collective term for symptoms that occur in various diseases of the glomerulus (renal corpuscles); symptoms include: Proteinuria (increased excretion of protein in the urine) with protein loss of more than 1 g/m²/body surface area per day; hypoproteinemia, peripheral edema due to hypalbuminemia of < 2.5 g/dl in serum, hyperlipoproteinemia (lipid metabolism disorder).

Prognostic factors

  • Researchers found that cell lines of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with K-Ras mutation were inhibited in their growth by statins.
  • One study found that statins can positively affect cancer-specific mortality (death rate) in lung cancer patients:
    • Statin use before diagnosis onset: 12% reduction in disease-associated mortality risk.
    • Statins were prescribed at least twelve times: 19% lower mortality risk
    • Statin use after diagnosis onset: 11% reduced cancer-specific mortality risk.

    The study found no difference between small cell and non-small cell lung cancer.