Can coughing blood be a sign of cancer?
Patient: Hi.  Four days ago I had surgery on my breast.  Reduction, reconstruction and lipo.  I had been diagniosed with organising phnemonia few months ago, which eventually I should treat with steriods, but didn't want to before this op.  I have been coughing up a little bit of phlem and sometimes there is a bit of blood in it.  In November I had a broncoscopy and they preformed lots of biopbsies which all came back clear of cancer and other things (that's why they are putting it down to BOOP) A couple of days after the broncoscopy I was coughing hard and burst a blood vessel and was coughing up blood (I went to the hospital and that's what they told me)  It settled down.Should I be concerned about the blood as I am panicking because to me blood means cancer.  I do cough hard.I am a non smoker.  Thank you Doctor: hi dear. blood on coughing is always abnormal. there are other causes also, other than cancer, for such symptoms eg. tuberculosis, BOOP, ulcers etc. as your previous biopsies were normal, so chances are less that it will be cancer. if your age is less than 50 years, chances are less for cancer. if you are a nonsmoker and female chances are lesser. so i think that the bleeding is related to your  previous pathology rather than cancer. but you should consult a chest physician to treat the underlying cause.