Secondary lung cancer

Secondary cancer in the lung is when cancer cells spread to the lungs from a cancer that started somewhere else in the body.

We have separate information about cancer that starts in the lung (primary lung cancer).

We hope this information answers your questions. If you have any more questions, you can ask your doctor or nurse at the hospital where you are having your treatment.

Sometimes cancer cells break away from the part of the body where the cancer started (primary cancer). They can travel in the blood or the lymphatic system to another part of the body, such as the lungs. This is called secondary cancer or metastatic cancer.

Some cancers are more likely to spread to the lungs than others. These include:

• bowel (colon and rectal) cancer
• breast cancer
• bladder cancer
• testicular cancer
• stomach cancer
• gullet (oesophageal) cancer
• kidney (renal) cancer
• melanoma (a type of skin cancer)
• sarcomas (bone and soft tissue sarcomas).

Some people are diagnosed with a secondary cancer before the primary cancer has been diagnosed. If this happens, you have tests to find where the cancer started. Occasionally, doctors may not be able to find the primary cancer. This is called cancer of unknown primary (CUP).

You may have one or more of the following tests to diagnose secondary lung cancer:

Waiting for test results can be a difficult time. We have more information that can help.

You may have other treatments to manage any symptoms caused by secondary lung cancer.

Breathlessness can be difficult to cope with, but there are treatments and drugs that can be used to help.

Sometimes a secondary cancer in the lung can block one of the airways. This can make breathing difficult. The following treatments can help.

A secondary lung cancer can cause a build-up of fluid between the two membranes (pleura) that cover the lungs. This is called a pleural effusion. The fluid puts pressure on the lung. It may cause:

• breathlessness
• a cough
• a dull, aching pain.

These symptoms can be relieved by carefully draining the fluid through a tube.

A cough is a common symptom. There are different treatments that can help a cough, including:

• painkillers that you swallow
• drugs given as a vapour that you inhale
• a short course of radiotherapy.

It is important to tell your doctor or nurse if you have any pain. There are different drugs that can be used to control pain. You can take painkillers in different ways, including:

• tablets
• capsules
• a liquid
• skin patches
• injections, usually under the skin.

Tell your doctor or nurse if your painkillers are not controlling the pain. Your doctor or nurse can increase the dose or give you a different drug. Or you may be given radiotherapy to control the pain.

You may notice some streaks of blood in your phlegm (sputum). This is not usually a problem. But if you notice larger amounts of blood, tell your doctor. You can have treatment to help control it – for example, radiotherapy. A drug called tranexamic acid can sometimes be helpful.

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.