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Potential pitfall:
Overlapping lung cancer and COVID-19 symptoms means that the message to patients about early diagnosis is negated by the messages necessary to control the COVID pandemic.
Helpful hint:
Consider the following action if a patient presents with features more suggestive of lung cancer and overlapping symptoms of a cough, breathlessness and fatigue:
Please note: the NICE NG12 guideline recommends offering an urgent chest X‑ray (to be performed within 2 weeks) to assess for lung cancer in people aged 40 and over if they have 2 or more of the following unexplained symptoms, or if they have ever smoked and have 1 or more of the following unexplained symptoms including a cough, fatigue and shortness of breath.
References:
Evison, M. et al (2020) Differentiation of the Cs in lung cancer: Cancer vs Covid-19. Available at: https://www.healthylondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Differentiation-of-the-Cs-in-lung-cancer_-Cancer-vs.-COVID.pdf (Accessed 29 June 2020).
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