Loading
A tumour or clot blocks the large vein that returns blood from the head and arms to the heart, so the face, neck and arms swell and the veins on the chest stand out. It is frightening and looks urgent, but it is usually treatable and rarely an immediate emergency.
The superior vena cava runs through a tight space in the right side of the chest surrounded by lymph nodes, so a mediastinal mass, most often a lung cancer or a lymphoma, can compress it; a clot around an indwelling line is the other common cause. Pressure builds behind the blockage and produces facial and arm swelling, distended neck and chest wall veins, headache that is worse on bending forward, and breathlessness. NICE NG122 treats it as a problem of the underlying cancer first: it asks teams to offer chemotherapy and radiotherapy based on the stage of disease and performance status, and to consider inserting a stent for immediate relief of severe symptoms or after earlier treatment has failed. The order matters, because chemosensitive tumours such as small-cell lung cancer and lymphoma often respond fast enough that the vein reopens without a stent, while a slow-growing or already-treated tumour is better served by the stent. Getting a tissue diagnosis before treatment is usually still possible and still worth doing.
Central tumours arise in the large airways, peripheral ones in the alveoli; both drain to hilar then mediastinal nodes, and the pleural lining is a separate cancer site.
Same organ: Mediastinal germ cell tumour, Pleuropulmonary blastoma (types I, Ir, II and III), Type A and type AB thymoma, Type B1 and type B2 thymoma, Type B3 thymoma, Micronodular thymoma with lymphoid stroma, Adenocarcinoma of the lung, Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, Large cell carcinoma of the lung, Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung, Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung, Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung, Adenocarcinoma in situ and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma of the lung, Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, Lymphoepithelial carcinoma of the lung, Pulmonary blastoma (adult), Non-small-cell lung cancer, Small-cell lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Pleural mesothelioma, Thymoma and thymic carcinoma, Childhood lung and airway tumours (pleuropulmonary blastoma, tracheobronchial tumours), Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT), EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer, ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, KRAS G12C-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, MET exon 14 and MET-amplified non-small-cell lung cancer, RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, BRAF V600E-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, HER2-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, NTRK fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, PD-L1-high non-small-cell lung cancer without a driver mutation, Resectable stage I to III non-small-cell lung cancer, Unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer, Limited-stage small-cell lung cancer, Extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, Lung neuroendocrine tumours (typical and atypical carcinoid), Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung, Thymoma (WHO types A, AB, B1, B2 and B3), Thymic carcinoma
Showing the organ this term concerns: Lung cancer (all types).
Shares Pancoast (superior sulcus) tumour, Mediastinal lymph node stations, Performance status (ECOG, Karnofsky), Lung cancer (all types) and the tag lung.
Shares Mediastinum, Mediastinal lymph node stations, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Pancoast (superior sulcus) tumour, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Pancoast (superior sulcus) tumour, Mediastinal lymph node stations, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Performance status (ECOG, Karnofsky), Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Mediastinal lymph node stations, Lung cancer (all types), Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.