Telling signs on fingers of silent killer branded UK's most deadly

23 October 2023 , 07:00

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The disease is said to be the UK's deadliest (Image: Getty Images)

While lung cancer is not the most common cancer it's still the deadliest form of cancer in the UK, according to the experts at Cancer Research UK. When you look at which cancers rob the most from sufferers in terms of years of life with their loved ones, lung cancer is by far the worst offender. Of the two million years of life estimated to be lost to cancer each year lung cancer claimed 500,000.

Of course it’s not the only cancer to cut short peoples’ lives.. Bowel cancer was next at 214,000 years of life lost, while breast cancer claimed 197,000 years. The study looked at the period of 1988 and 1992 and compared average annual years of life lost to the period of 2013 to 2017. Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK but there are some early warning signs everyone needs to be aware of.

While not everyone will experience warning signs, typically there are eight symptoms of lung cancer to look out for including one that affects your fingers. The Roy Castle lung cancer foundation which was set up after the much loved entertainer died of the disease says finger clubbing could be an early warning sign that you need to get checked out by your doctor.

Finger clubbing could be an early symptom of lung cancer (Getty Images)

Finger clubbing

When you press your fingernails together, do you see a tiny diamond-shaped window of light? If you can’t see this ‘diamond gap’, you could have finger clubbing, which can be a sign of lung cancer, according to the Roy Castle lung cancer foundation website. Finger clubbing is seen in more than a third (35%) of people with non-small cell lung cancer and in 4% of those with small cell lung cancer.

Finger clubbing happens in stages. First, the base of the nail becomes soft and the skin next to the nail bed becomes shiny. After that, the nails begin to curve more than usual before eventually the ends of the fingers may get larger and swell, which is thought to be caused by fluid collecting in the soft tissues of the fingers.

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While not having this diamond-shaped window does not automatically indicate lung cancer, it can be a symptom. Recognising finger clubbing as a symptom of lung cancer could save your life. Father of two Brian Gemmell, 53, from East Kilbride was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014 after seeing his GP with concerns about swelling of his fingertips.

Lung cancer robs more hours of life from its victims than any other cancer (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

‘’I was not feeling ill, I was feeling healthy,” Brian recalls. “I had no cough, I wasn’t coughing up blood, I wasn’t breathless. My one and only symptom was clubbing of the fingers, where all your fingers swell up and when you put your fingers together you can’t see a diamond. That was my only symptom. Straightaway, my GP had an idea of what it was. He sent me straight for a chest X-ray and referred me to a respiratory consultant.”

A PET scan showed there wasn’t any activity anywhere else in his body and that the cancer was confined to his lung. “My surgeon was keen to get me in, to operate, to remove my lung,” he adds. “Getting a lung removed you’re like, ‘Can I survive? What’s my life going to be afterwards’? All these things are going through your mind. I went with what he said, and because he was so positive about it that made me positive as well. As far as I’m concerned, the surgeon did what he said he was going to do, he got me in, did the surgery and fortunately after that, my lymph nodes were clear’’.

Since then Brian has needed no further treatment and now devotes his time to volunteering at the Golden Jubilee and with the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation as a patient advocate to help others going through cancer treatment. Of course it’s not just finger clubbing that can be a sign of lung cancer, the full list of possible symptoms are:

Changes to your fingers could be a sign of lung cancer (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Other symptoms to look out for...

Cough

A persistent chesty cough, or a subtle tickly cough, like a constant clearing of your throat, could be lung cancer..

Chest infections

Persistent chest infections that keep coming back could be a sign of lung cancer.

Pain when breathing or coughing

Chest pain that gets worse with deep breathing, laughing or coughing could be a symptom of small cell lung cancer.

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Coughing up blood

Lung cancer can cause bleeding in the airway, which can cause you to cough up blood.

Breathlessness

Shortness of breath that starts with physical activity, or even while resting, could be a sign of lung cancer.

Unexplained weight loss

Weight loss or loss of appetite are common symptoms of lung cancer, with around 60% of people with the disease having experienced it by the time they are diagnosed.

Fatigue

Unexplained tiredness is a common symptom of lung cancer. So, if you are feeling more tired than usual and there is no reason for it, you should call your doctor.

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Jackie Annett