Chest pain can be a scary symptom when you’re living with lung cancer. Whether your lung cancer is in the early stages or advanced, it’s common to experience pain across your chest. Chest pain may affect your quality of life, and there are times when chest pain with lung cancer can be an emergency. It’s important to know when to seek medical care right away.

Read on to learn different ways chest pain with lung cancer can feel, potential causes of chest pain, how to manage this symptom, and when to get emergency care.

How Chest Pain With Lung Cancer Feels

Chest pain is one of the most common symptoms of lung cancer. Exactly how it feels and how severe lung cancer chest pain becomes varies from person to person. Some members of MyLungCancerTeam describe their chest pain as a dull ache or pressure. Others describe a sharp or stabbing pain in various parts of the chest, neck, or rib cage. Some feel a tightness or burning sensation, which might radiate to the arms, back, or shoulders.

Chest pain due to lung cancer may worsen with deep breathing or coughing or when using surrounding muscles.

Members have described feeling pain in different parts of the chest. “I’ve had right-side chest wall pain since I had surgery 1 1/2 years ago,” one member said. Another member experienced pain in a different location: “I’m having midsternal chest pains lately — not severe, just irritating.”

Chest pain can also vary by its frequency. “Slight uncomfortable pain in my chest today. The pain comes and goes,” wrote one member. Another shared that their pain is more constant: “Sleep is really the only time that my chest doesn’t hurt.”

Where, when, and how you feel the pain depends on many factors, including the location and size of your tumor. It might also depend on which lung cancer treatments you’re receiving (or received in the past) and whether you have other medical conditions.

Possible Causes of Chest Pain With Lung Cancer

There are many reasons someone with lung cancer might have chest pain. Your chest pain may stem from multiple causes.

Tumor Pain

Primary lung tumors can put pressure on surrounding tissue and nerves, leading to discomfort and pain, as well as other symptoms and signs of lung cancer.

Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer treatments including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy can contribute to different types of chest pain. For example, you may have pain around the area where a chemo port or surgery drainage tube was placed. If radiation targeted your lungs or lymph nodes in your chest, you may have pain in this area.

Many members have described chest pain associated with different aspects of lung cancer treatment:

• “I’ve had shoulder and chest pain for a long time, but I’m wondering if chemo last week could have been the cause of additional pain.”
• “I have chest pain and heartburn during radiation.”
• “The drains are probably the worst part of the pain.”
• “If you have a chest tube in, once it’s removed, you’ll feel a lot better. The pain and soreness get less and less each day.”

Lung Cancer Complications

Lung cancer can lead to complications in advanced stages, some of which may have chest pain as a symptom. One potential complication is a blood clot that travels through the veins and into the lungs. This type of blood clot is called a pulmonary embolism, and it can be life-threatening. Pulmonary embolism causes sudden, sharp chest pain. It may also cause shortness of breath and coughing up blood.

Pleural effusion is another major cause of chest pain in people with lung cancer. This occurs when cancer spreads to the pleura (sheets of tissue that protect the lungs) and causes inflammation. The normally thin layer of fluid in the pleura then builds up, making it harder to breathe, and your chest may hurt.

Other Medical Conditions

Many people with lung cancer also live with other medical conditions. Heart disease, acid reflux, and lung diseases apart from cancer can also cause chest pain. Chronic lung conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which may be related to chronic bronchitis and emphysema, may cause chest discomfort. If you have any of these other conditions, they may be contributing to your pain.

One of the most feared causes of chest pain is a myocardial infarction, or heart attack. Chest pain from a heart attack is sudden, usually felt on the left side, and typically radiates to the jaw or arm. It may also mimic a heartburn sensation. A heart attack is a life-threatening medical emergency.

Management of Lung Cancer Chest Pain

Talk openly with your oncology care team about chest pain and any other symptoms or side effects you experience. They can help you identify the cause or causes of your chest pain and recommend treatment options. If your pain is dull and chronic, check with your oncologist or pulmonologist. If chest pain comes on suddenly, is severe, and is associated with other symptoms, go to an emergency department right away.

For many people, some chest pain is part of living with lung cancer, especially while healing from lung cancer treatment. One member shared, “The cancer center said it could be a delayed side effect — nothing to treat, other than with pain medication.” In these cases, you may need to be patient and use some of these methods to manage pain at home:

• Over-the-counter pain medication, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and naproxen
• Prescribed pain medication
• Physical therapy
• Ice packs
• Heat
• Scrambler therapy for nerve pain

Be sure to check with your doctor before using any medications, including those sold over the counter. If your pain is due to other conditions, it’s important to diagnose and treat the root cause of your pain.

When To Seek Medical Attention

Anyone with a lung cancer diagnosis should report any chest pain symptoms to their health care provider right away. Chest pain could be a sign of a medical emergency, especially if accompanied by symptoms such as weakness, fainting, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, or radiating jaw or shoulder pain. If you have these symptoms or unexplained sudden chest pain of any kind, call 911, or have a family member or friend take you to the emergency room right away.

Talk With Others Who Understand

MyLungCancerTeam is the social network for people with lung cancer and their loved ones. On MyLungCancerTeam, more than 12,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with lung cancer.

Do you have chest pain related to your lung cancer symptoms or treatment? Have you spoken with your cancer care team about it? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.