Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK – around 49,000 people are diagnosed each year.
While many of us know that symptoms of the disease can include a cough that doesn’t go away and unexplained weight loss, there’s also a less obvious sign that might show up on your hands which could flag underlying disease.
Changes in the appearance of your fingers, where they become more curved or their ends become larger – a phenomenon known as finger clubbing – could flag lung cancer, according to the NHS.
Signs of finger clubbing
It’s worth noting that if you experience finger clubbing, it doesn’t mean you have lung cancer. It can run in families and some people with thyroid problems, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease can experience it.
However Mount Sinai health care suggests lung cancer is the most common cause of this bodily change.
“Clubbing often occurs in heart and lung diseases that reduce the amount of oxygen in the blood,” its website explained.
The change seems to happen in stages, according to Cancer Research UK, and can take years to develop – although in some cases it can come on quicker.
To start with, there is usually a “softening” of the nail bed and redness of the skin around the nail. Then, the angle between the nail bed and the nail fold increases, causing the nail to “curve more than usual”.
The cancer charity said the nail and the skin around it will “look shiny” and the nail develops ridges along the length of it. And then the ends of the fingers become larger, giving the characteristic “clubbed” appearance.
How to spot finger clubbing
There is a simple test people can do at home to assess whether they’re impacted by finger clubbing – it’s called the Schamroth window test.
According to BMJ Best Practice: “If two opposing fingers are held back to back against each other, a diamond-shaped space should normally appear between the nail beds and the nails of the two fingers.
“In clubbing, this space (or window) is missing.”
Other symptoms of lung cancer
The NHS lists the following signs that could also indicate lung cancer:
- a cough that does not go away after 3 weeks
- a long-standing cough that gets worse
- chest infections that keep coming back
- coughing up blood
- an ache or pain when breathing or coughing
- persistent breathlessness
- persistent tiredness or lack of energy
- loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
- difficulty or pain when swallowing
- wheezing
- a hoarse voice
- swelling of your face or neck
- persistent chest or shoulder pain.
If you have any of the above symptoms, book an appointment to see your GP.
