India, Dec. 7 -- A cough that continues for weeks despite rest, routine medication, and familiar home remedies is often the body's way of indicating that something deeper may be happening inside the lungs. A persistent cough is rarely just a leftover infection or a seasonal reaction, and when it lingers without a clear reason, it becomes a clinical sign that deserves attention.

In many early-stage lung cancer cases, this cough appears long before any noticeable pain or breathlessness, which is why people tend to brush it aside. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Manish Sahni, surgical oncologist and robotic surgeon, Kailash Hospital, Noida and Delhi, shares why a persistent cough is never "normal" and lists the early signs of lung can...