What Cancer Makes You Cough Up Blood?

Bleeding from the mouth isn't always a cause for alarm. You might bleed from the mouth if you bite your tongue or your lip. However, there's a difference between bleeding from the mouth and coughing up blood. Coughing up blood can mean you have a serious illness, such as lung cancer.

Fact

• The National Cancer Institute (see Reference 3), estimates there were 159,390 deaths from lung cancer in the United States in 2009.

Lung Cancer

• Coughing up blood is one of the warning signs of lung cancer. According to the American Lung Association (see Reference 1), lung cancer is a malignant tumor growing in the lungs. Lung cancer patients often expel blood from their lungs or respiratory tract. Coughing up blood doesn't always mean you have lung cancer, but it shouldn't be ignored.

Types

• Lung cancer is more than just one disease. According to Lung Cancer: The Facts (see Reference 2), three types of cancer develop in the lungs or chest area. They are: small-cell carcinoma, non-small cell carcinoma, and mesothelioma. All three can cause patients to cough up blood.

Small-cell carcinoma

• This type of tumor has cells that are small and weak. It grows faster than other forms of lung cancer, usually spreading to the bloodstream and lymph glands in the earliest stages. Smokers are affected by this type of tumor more often than non-smokers.

Non-small cell carcinoma

• According to the National Cancer Institute (see Reference 3), there are different types of non-small cell carcinoma. The cells of each type spread and grow in different ways. The only way to tell which non-small cell carcinoma is present is to examine the cells under a microscope.

Mesothelioma

• Mesothelioma starts in cells that line parts of the body. It usually develops in the chest cavity or abdomen, and then spreads to the lungs.