The UK Lung Cancer Clinical Expert Group (CEG) and Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation have developed guidance on how to differentiate lung cancer from COVID-19. This is in the form of an infographic. Overlapping lung cancer and COVID-19 symptoms can mean that health education advice and messaging to patients about the importance of early diagnosis in Lung Cancer is confused, and possibly negated, by advice necessary to control the COVID pandemic.
Despite some of the symptoms of both Lung Cancer and COVID-19 being the same, specifically breathlessness, fatigue and a cough, the infographic chart outlines important differences in the two presentations. For example, features more suggestive of COVID-19 might be if all three of these symptoms occurred acutely accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, myalgia and loss of smell whilst in suspected lung cancer they might be longer onset accompanied by weight loss, haemoptysis and chest pain. The chart also suggests diagnostic actions and tests which would help a clinician determine an accurate diagnosis. The full chart is available here