Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDefinitionWhat Can Cause a Mass in the Lung?What Are the Chances a Lung Mass Is Cancer?DiagnosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Definition
What Can Cause a Mass in the Lung?
What Are the Chances a Lung Mass Is Cancer?
Diagnosis
Treatment
Symptoms of a mass in your lung can include shortness of breath, back pain or chest pain (especially when you breathe deeply or cough), andunexplained weight loss.Or, it’s possible that your healthcare provider says you have a lung mass, but you’ve had no symptoms at all so far.
Canceris a likely reason, but benign tumors (not cancer), treatable infections, and other causes can lead to a lung mass. It’s likely you’ll see apulmonaryspecialist (lung doctor) for more tests and diagnosis, anoncologistfor cancer treatment, or other healthcare provider depending on the cause.
This article discusses lung masses and their possible causes. It explains the tests commonly used to evaluate a lung mass and make a diagnosis, as well as some of the treatment options.
A lung mass is defined as an abnormal spot or area in the lungs larger than 3 centimeters (cm), about 1.5 inches,in size.Spots smaller than 3 cm in diameter are consideredlung nodules.
Size isn’t the only factor, but it’s a key determinant of whether a mass (or nodule) is a primary lung cancer. With respect to size:
Malignant vs. Benign Tumors: What Are the Differences?
The most common causes of a lung mass differ from those of a lung nodule. The chance that the abnormality may be malignant (cancerous) is lower for a lung nodule than it is for a mass.
Cancer
Size isn’t the only factor, but it’s a key determinant of whether a mass (or nodule) is a primary lung cancer. It’s important to remember that age, smoking history, environmental exposure (such as radon or asbestos), and genetics all contribute to the chance of lung cancer.
Diagnostic tests would determine thetype of lung cancer. These types include:
Metastases (spread) of cancers from other regions of the body to the lung are another cause. The most common cancers that spread to the lungs are breast cancer, colon cancer, andbladder cancer.
Treatment options depend on the type and stage of the lung cancer. They can include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, andimmunotherapydrugs, with advances in recent years that have extended survival times.
Lung cancer accounts for about 20% of cancer deaths and is currently the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.About 12% of all lung cancers occur in people who have never smoked, with increasing prevalence in younger people and those assigned female.
Primary Lung Cancer vs. Secondary Lung Cancer
A lung mass is more concerning if it is described as “ground glass” on an imaging report. Calcifications and cavitary shapes are more likely with benign tumors. The key factors from imaging tests include not just size, but also:
The symptoms you experience, including a chronic cough, chest pain, blood-tinged sputum, and unexplained weight loss, all may suggest lung cancer. But they also are common with other lung diseases and it’s important to seek a healthcare provider’s accurate diagnosis.
Signs and Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Benign Causes
Sometimes lung masses have noncancerous causes. These benign causes are not cancer, and they will not metastasize, but some can cause serious health complications and may need to be monitored over time and/or treated.
Some benign causes of a lung mass include:
Certain fungal infections and parasitic infections also can lead to lung masses.
Your healthcare provider will take a careful history and do a physical examination as part of the assessment of your lung mass.
Some of the questions your healthcare provider might ask include:
Depending on the results of your history and physical exam, further tests might include imaging and/or abiopsy.
Imaging
If your healthcare provider noted a lung mass on yourchest X-ray, they may recommend that you have computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to look at the mass more closely.
These tests could help define the size and location of the mass, and sometimes make sure that the mass wasn’t an “artifact” on the X-ray—that is, something that looked like a mass but wasn’t, such as an overlap of tissues.
Apositron emission tomography (PET) scanis an imaging study that detects increased metabolic activity associated with active growth. For example, a suspicious area that does not light up on a PET scan may be old scar tissue whereas an area that lights up (shows signs of increased metabolism) is more likely to be a cancerous tumor.
These tests can be especially helpful if a person has had radiation treatment for breast cancer,Hodgkin lymphoma, or lung cancer in the past—as radiation may cause scar tissue that resembles a tumor on an X-ray. They also play a key role in guiding current treatments.
CT Scan vs. MRI
Bronchoscopy
If the mass is in the central area of the lungs near the large airways, abronchoscopymay be recommended. During a bronchoscopy, healthcare providers pass a flexible tube through your mouth and down into your bronchi.
This test can look for abnormalities in and near the large airways, and a biopsy can be performed if needed. An endobronchial ultrasound may also be done (an ultrasound that is done through the bronchi) during a bronchoscopy to better view abnormalities that are deep in the lungs and relatively close to the airways.
Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) Uses and What to Expect
Fine Needle Biopsy
If your lung mass is in the outer regions of the lungs, your healthcare provider may recommend a fine needle biopsy with a needle that is placed through the chest wall and into the mass to get a tissue sample.
Lung Biopsy Types: What to Expect
Lung Surgery
Sometimes it may be difficult to get a sample of the cells in your lung mass with either a needle biopsy or via a bronchoscopy. If this is the case,thoracic surgerymay be recommended to get a sample of tissue.
This may be done through small incisions and using instruments with a camera (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery), or through a traditional incision to access the lungs (thoracotomy).
The imaging and biopsy are done to provide information about the size, appearance, location, and cells in the mass.
The treatment of your lung mass will depend on the underlying cause. If it is a primary cancerous tumor of the lung or metastatic cancer from another region of the body to the lung, treatment options may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.
Other less common causes of lung masses, such as infections, will be treated based on the diagnosis your healthcare provider determines after testing.
Is Lung Cancer Curable? Treatment Options and Survival Rate
Summary
A mass in the lung can have a number of possible causes, not all of them cancer. Benign causes can include infection, aneurysm, or a congenital malformation, all with different treatment options and outlooks.
But there is an increased concern for lung cancer with a lung mass, defined as an abnormal spot that’s larger than 3 cm. The chance of malignancy is greater with size, but other factors (for example, the change in size over time) are important in making a diagnosis.
Your healthcare team, including radiologists, cancer experts, and other specialists, will make the diagnosis on the basis of test results. Once a diagnosis is made, you can discuss treatment options.
8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.RWJ Barnabas Health.Lung Mass.Radiology Key.Nodules and Masses.American Cancer Society.What Is Lung Cancer?American Cancer Society.Key Statistics for Lung Cancer.Siegel DA, Fedewa SA, Henley SJ, Pollack LA, Jemal A.Proportion of Never Smokers Among Men and Women With Lung Cancer in 7 US States.JAMA Oncol. 2021 Feb 1;7(2):302-304. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.6362.Hancock, D., Langley, M., Chia, K., Woodman, R., and E. Shanahan.Wood Dust Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis.Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2015. 72(12):889-98.Gammon A, Jasperson K, Champine M.Genetic basis of Cowden syndrome and its implications for clinical practice and risk management.Appl Clin Genet. 2016;9:83–92. Published 2016 Jul 13. doi:10.2147/TACG.S41947Kirienko M, Sollini M, Corbetta M, Voulaz E, Gozzi N, Interlenghi M,et al.Radiomics and gene expression profile to characterise the disease and predict outcome in patients with lung cancer.Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Oct;48(11):3643-3655. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05371-7.Additional ReadingKasper, DL.., Fauci AS, and Hauser, SL. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education, 2015. Print.Yao, Y., Lv, T., and Y. Song.How to Diagnose Pulmonary Nodules: From Screening to Therapy.Translational Lung Cancer Research. 2017. 6(1):3-5.
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Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.RWJ Barnabas Health.Lung Mass.Radiology Key.Nodules and Masses.American Cancer Society.What Is Lung Cancer?American Cancer Society.Key Statistics for Lung Cancer.Siegel DA, Fedewa SA, Henley SJ, Pollack LA, Jemal A.Proportion of Never Smokers Among Men and Women With Lung Cancer in 7 US States.JAMA Oncol. 2021 Feb 1;7(2):302-304. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.6362.Hancock, D., Langley, M., Chia, K., Woodman, R., and E. Shanahan.Wood Dust Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis.Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2015. 72(12):889-98.Gammon A, Jasperson K, Champine M.Genetic basis of Cowden syndrome and its implications for clinical practice and risk management.Appl Clin Genet. 2016;9:83–92. Published 2016 Jul 13. doi:10.2147/TACG.S41947Kirienko M, Sollini M, Corbetta M, Voulaz E, Gozzi N, Interlenghi M,et al.Radiomics and gene expression profile to characterise the disease and predict outcome in patients with lung cancer.Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Oct;48(11):3643-3655. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05371-7.Additional ReadingKasper, DL.., Fauci AS, and Hauser, SL. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education, 2015. Print.Yao, Y., Lv, T., and Y. Song.How to Diagnose Pulmonary Nodules: From Screening to Therapy.Translational Lung Cancer Research. 2017. 6(1):3-5.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
RWJ Barnabas Health.Lung Mass.Radiology Key.Nodules and Masses.American Cancer Society.What Is Lung Cancer?American Cancer Society.Key Statistics for Lung Cancer.Siegel DA, Fedewa SA, Henley SJ, Pollack LA, Jemal A.Proportion of Never Smokers Among Men and Women With Lung Cancer in 7 US States.JAMA Oncol. 2021 Feb 1;7(2):302-304. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.6362.Hancock, D., Langley, M., Chia, K., Woodman, R., and E. Shanahan.Wood Dust Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis.Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2015. 72(12):889-98.Gammon A, Jasperson K, Champine M.Genetic basis of Cowden syndrome and its implications for clinical practice and risk management.Appl Clin Genet. 2016;9:83–92. Published 2016 Jul 13. doi:10.2147/TACG.S41947Kirienko M, Sollini M, Corbetta M, Voulaz E, Gozzi N, Interlenghi M,et al.Radiomics and gene expression profile to characterise the disease and predict outcome in patients with lung cancer.Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Oct;48(11):3643-3655. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05371-7.
RWJ Barnabas Health.Lung Mass.
Radiology Key.Nodules and Masses.
American Cancer Society.What Is Lung Cancer?
American Cancer Society.Key Statistics for Lung Cancer.
Siegel DA, Fedewa SA, Henley SJ, Pollack LA, Jemal A.Proportion of Never Smokers Among Men and Women With Lung Cancer in 7 US States.JAMA Oncol. 2021 Feb 1;7(2):302-304. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.6362.
Hancock, D., Langley, M., Chia, K., Woodman, R., and E. Shanahan.Wood Dust Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis.Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2015. 72(12):889-98.
Gammon A, Jasperson K, Champine M.Genetic basis of Cowden syndrome and its implications for clinical practice and risk management.Appl Clin Genet. 2016;9:83–92. Published 2016 Jul 13. doi:10.2147/TACG.S41947
Kirienko M, Sollini M, Corbetta M, Voulaz E, Gozzi N, Interlenghi M,et al.Radiomics and gene expression profile to characterise the disease and predict outcome in patients with lung cancer.Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Oct;48(11):3643-3655. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05371-7.
Kasper, DL.., Fauci AS, and Hauser, SL. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education, 2015. Print.Yao, Y., Lv, T., and Y. Song.How to Diagnose Pulmonary Nodules: From Screening to Therapy.Translational Lung Cancer Research. 2017. 6(1):3-5.
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