Eleanor Ceres found out she had lung cancer after the tumor spread from her chest and began protruding out her neck. But experts say these statistics hide the real story: how lung cancer is being grossly undercounted across sub-Saharan Africa. Why lung cancer goes undiagnosedThere are almost no nerve endings in the lungs, so in the early stages, the most common symptom of lung cancer is no symptom at all, says Dr. Keertan Dheda, a pulmonologist at Groote Schuur Hospital. His own research shows that, among lung cancer patients , those with HIV tend to be younger and have more advanced cancer than those without HIV. There is no lung cancer registry, there is no lung cancer group, there is no lung research grant, there is no lung cancer unit, even in the hospitals,” says Okonta.