What is secondary lung cancer?

How cancer spreads

Where a cancer starts is called the primary cancer. If some cancer cells break away from the primary cancer, they can move through the bloodstream or ​lymphatic system​ to another part of the body forming a new tumour. This is called a secondary cancer. Secondary cancers are also called metastases (pronounced me-tass-ta-sis).

Read more about how cancers can spread

The secondary cancer is made of the same type of cells as the primary cancer.

If the cancer started in your bowel and has spread to your lung, the areas of cancer in the lung are made up of bowel cancer cells.  

This is different from having a cancer that first started in the lung (a primary lung cancer). In that case, the cancer is made up of lung cells that have become cancerous. This is important because the primary cancer tells your doctor which type of treatment you need.

Find out about primary lung cancer

This video is about secondary cancer, it lasts for 2 minutes and 42 seconds. 

Which cancers spread to the lungs?

Any cancer can spread to the lung. The most common cancers to do so are:

• breast cancer

• bowel cancer

• kidney cancer

• testicular cancer

• bladder cancer

• melanoma skin cancer

• bone cancer

• soft tissue sarcomas

• head and neck cancer

Find out about your type of cancer

Symptoms of secondary lung cancer

Symptoms of secondary lung cancer might include:

• a cough that doesn’t go away

• shortness of breath

• ongoing chest infections

• weight loss

• coughing up blood

• chest pain

A build up of fluid between the two layers that cover the lung (pleural effusion) stops the lungs from expanding fully. Breathing in can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, and a cough.

Remember, these symptoms can also be due to other more common conditions. If you have any of them, tell your doctor so that they can check them out.

Read about treatment for fluid on the lung (pleural effusion)

Tests for secondary lung cancer

There are different tests you might have to diagnose secondary lung cancer. You may have one or more of the following:

• chest X-ray

• CT scan

• PET scan

• PET-CT scan

Find out about these tests

Secondary lung cancer treatment

Secondary cancer can’t usually be cured. But treatment can control it for some time and help prevent problems developing. Some people may not be able to have treatment for their cancer because they are too unwell. 

Find out about treating secondary lung cancer

Secondary lung cancer survival

Most people worry about their outlook (prognosis) when they have a secondary cancer. Your individual outlook depends on many factors including whether the cancer has spread to more than one part of your body, how quickly it is growing and how it responds to treatment. 

It is usually difficult to predict and this uncertainty can be hard to deal with. Speak to your doctor who can give you more information about your outlook.

Find out about ways of coping with secondary cancer