Two surprising hand symptoms that point towards lung cancer

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world and it causes maximum deaths. The World Health Organisation in 2022 recorded that 2.5 million people were diagnosed with lung cancer of which 1.7 million deaths were caused.

Lung cancer has a low survival rate compared to other leading cancers. Lung cancer chances are high in people who use tobacco, smoke, are exposed to secondhand smoke, air pollution, diesel engine exhaust, apart from many other factors.

Medical experts in the UK have discovered two lesser-known symptoms that indicate lung cancer. According to Cancer Research UK, around 34,800 deaths are caused annually accounting for 21% of cancer-related deaths in the country.

The two less-known symptoms are finger clubbing and numbness or tingling in the hands.

Finger clubbing

Finger clubbing is a condition that makes the ends of your fingers or toes swollen and thickened. The nails may also discolour and grow in a downward curve direction indicating the tumors that are pushed in the blood and fluid tissues of the fingertips. Clubbing is often associated with low oxygen levels in the blood.

Finger clubbing takes a lot of time to develop but in certain cases where lungs are weak or abscess, it occurs faster. The doctors are yet to find the exact cause of finger clubbing.

Numbness or tingling

The numbness or tingling in hands is one of the major symptoms of lung cancer that develops in the upper part of the lungs and it is called a Pancoast tumor. The Pancoast tumor can press on the nerves in the chest and neck causing weakness in the hands.


Lung cancer is one of the cancers that rarely show symptoms until it reaches a higher stage and spreads all through the lungs or other parts of the body. So, it is very important to be vigilant about the disease.

Other symptoms of lung cancer include:

Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Chest pain
Shoulder pain
Chronic cough
Coughing up blood
Weight loss
Fever
Profuse night sweats