What should you know about lung cancer throwing up blood?

Vomited blood may look bright red or like dark coffee grounds and can be mixed with food. Coughed-up blood usually comes with mucus or froth after coughing and may be streaked or red. Bleeding can arise from the digestive tract, nose or mouth, or the lungs and airways. Lung cancer may cause airway bleeding, but infections, ulcers, medicines and other conditions can also do so. The appearance alone cannot identify the source or severity.

If you are bringing up blood, stop eating and drinking until a clinician advises you, sit upright if breathing is easier that way, and note whether it followed coughing or nausea. Do not drive yourself if you feel faint or short of breath. Tell emergency clinicians about lung cancer, blood-thinning medicines, recent procedures and the amount and colour of blood. Keep any medicine list available and do not take extra anti-inflammatory medicine unless a clinician tells you to.

Call emergency services now for more than a small streak of blood, repeated bleeding, clots, severe breathlessness, chest pain, dizziness, fainting, confusion, pale or clammy skin, or black stools. A person who is choking, becoming drowsy, or struggling to breathe needs immediate help. Even a small new episode should be reported promptly to the cancer team because the source needs checking.

Did the blood come from coughing, vomiting, the nose or the mouth? Do I need urgent scans, blood tests or an airway examination? Should any blood-thinning medicine be adjusted? What symptoms mean I should call emergency services? How can future bleeding be reduced?