Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] My partner was a heavy smoker until 2 years ago when he gave up. A month ago he coughed up a small amount of bloody mucus several times so the doctor sent him for a chest xray. The results showed "a shadow" on the lungs. Could this be cancer? He has to wait 2 weeks to have the xray repeated....a very long 2 weeks!
[|AI|]  Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your partners situation and problem. He is having hemoptysis (blood in sputum). He is also having history of smoking. So following can cause shadow on chest x-ray in his case. 1. Pneumonia 2. Tuberculosis 3. Lung cancer. So better to consult pulmonologist and get done clinical examination of respiratory system, sputum examination for AFB (acid fast bacilli-bacteria causing tuberculosis) and CT thorax with Contrast for the diagnosis of above diseases. Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further. Wishing good health to your partner. Thanks.