Diagnosed With Lung Cancer. Will I Get The Symptoms Of Heart Attack?

Posted on Fri, 19 Apr 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 Answered on

Sat, 11 May 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Does lung cancer feel like a heart attack?

Answered by Dr. Shoaib Khan (1 hour later)

Hello and welcome to XXXXXXX

Thank you for choosing us to serve you.

Yes sir, many patients diagnosed to have lung cancer experience symptoms similar to that of a heart attack. But, they are still advised to report to their doctor whenever they experience this, especially:
-Those with a history of cardiac ailments
-Age above 50 years
-Males

Where up to 20-30 % of patients with lung cancer are absolutely asymptomatic (no symptoms), others experience symptoms like:
-Chest pain (similar to cardiac/heart pain)
-Wheezing
-Cough
-Shortness of breath (also experienced in a heart attack)
-Shoulder pain (also experienced in a heart attack)
-Hemoptysis (coughing of blood)

Symptoms experienced by patients with a more advanced stage of cancer:
-Headaches
-Blurred vision
-Seizures
-Hoarseness of voice
-Confusion
-Stroke
-Difficulty swallowing
and many more.

Please keep your treating doctor in the loop, and also run all investigations to ensure your cardiac status. Once we realize that you have a healthy heart, we wouldn't have to look into it the next time such pain arises (hoping it doesn't).

I hope my response was helpful and informative. Do write back to me for any further clarifications, I would be more than happy to help you.

Best wishes.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar