Advanced lung cancer has spread beyond the lung to other organs. Patients with advanced lung cancer have a low rate of survival. Roughly 2 percent of patients with it survive more than five years after diagnosis, according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.
Bone Pain
If the cancer has spread to the bone, patients may experience pain in rib or back. The pain is often continuous, severe and localized, according to UpToDate.com.
Neck and Chest Pain
Patients with advanced lung cancer may experience swelling of the neck, the upper chest or the face. This is caused by a growing tumor compressing on one or more veins in the chest. Patients with this complication might also experience shortness of breath, drowsiness, dizziness and distorted vision, according to the book "Clinical Oncology."
Other Symptoms
According to a 2000 study of 1000 patients diagnosed with advanced lung cancer published in the journal "Supportive Care In Cancer," the most common symptoms besides pain are weakness, anorexia, dry mouth, losing more than 10 percent of body weight, constipation, dyspnea, sleep problems and nausea. The prevalence of these symptoms in advanced lung cancer patients at the time of diagnosis ranges from 50 percent to 84 percent. For instance, losing more than 10 percent of body weight occurs in half of the patients.
Patients with advanced lung cancer are polysymptomatic (i.e. developing multiple symptoms at the time of diagnosis), according to the study published in "Supportive Care In Cancer."
