Like small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often does not show symptoms until it has spread. Many of the symptoms are the same and include:

• Persistent cough
• Coughing up blood (hemoptysis)
• Wheezing
• Shortness of breath
• Persistent hoarseness
• Pain or difficulty breathing or swallowing
• Repeated pneumonia (fever and mucus-producing cough) or bronchitis
• Weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Swelling of the face and arms

Some lung cancers produce a hormone-like substance that enters the bloodstream and affects distant tissues and organs (a condition called paraneoplastic syndromes). These lung cancers produce certain symptoms, including:

• High blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia), which can cause increased thirst, frequent urination, constipation, weakness, lethargy, dizziness, cognitive impairment and even coma.
  
  
• Excess growth of bones (hypertrophic osteoarthropathy) that may be painful, sometimes in the fingertips. This is common and may be the presenting symptom of NSCLC.
  
  
• Production of factors that increase the tendency to form blood clots.
  
  
• Excess breast growth in men (gynecomastia)