The simple answer, apparently, is yes. Prompted by a recent article in the metro I’ve done a little bit more research into an idea which truly seems impossible. In the article, it was described how a woman through two coughing fits coughed up a large tumour which had been accumulating in her trachea. At first the woman thought nothing of it, believing the small object from her first cough was just some viscous phlegm. However after her second round of coughing and the appearance of a much larger piece of flesh she went to her GP where the substance was sent to be tested. When it emerged that the malignant tumour this woman had inadvertently coughed was what it was she was scanned in an attempt to see if the cancer had spread. Miraculously, it hadn’t. The woman was perfectly healthy. These cases are incredibly rare with around only 30 known cases but even the one instance proves it is possible.
Though there are few cases where a whole, previously undiagnosed tumour is coughed up there is something similar which is far more common. Through my research it seems that for patients undergoing radiation for lung cancer, coughing up parts of their tumours is surprisingly common. While it definitely does not happen in every case, many people find that they will produce small fleshy lumps after undergoing their treatment. I could not find any studies on this subject but what I could find was a blog forum with a doctor discussing instances such as these.
For the blog visit:
For the original article in the metro visit:
Alex Butcher
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