Diagnosing lung cancer

Diagnosing lung cancer is important to be done in the early stages of this disease. The sooner found the better treated this affection is. Also, diagnosing in time lung cancer can make treatment more effective and can decrease the mortality caused by this disease.

After talking with the patient and asking him what are his symptoms and performing a physical exam the doctor will want to have some tests done in order to see if lung cancer is present or not.

The easiest test that can be done is a chest x-ray. With the help of the x-rays a photo of the thorax and of the organs contained by it will be made. On a chest x-ray only peripheral tumors that have a diameter of about 6 mm and central tumors that have the diameter of 2 cm can bee seen. Unfortunately at the time tumors begin to be seen on an x-ray, ¾ of the life of the cancer has already exhausted. A chest x-ray can not diagnose a lung cancer in its first stages of evolution. This is why a lot of other tests need to be done so that young tumors can be detected in time.

The CT scan is the next test to be done. Computer tomographs also work with x-rays. They take detailed images of the inside of the body from different angles and they can even obtain great images by virtually slicing the body from 5 mm to 5 mm. Besides detecting young lung tumors, the CT can also detect lymph nodes that are affected by the lung cancer. The CT is superior to the chest x-ray as in most of the cases when the chest x-ray is normal but the lung cancer symptoms are present, the CT will detect the lung tumor easily. The CT scan is a precious test as it can diagnose lung cancer from the early stages and help doctors implement a treatment fast, this way increasing the chances of survival for the patient.

Bronchoscopy is another useful test in diagnosing lung cancer. Bronchoscopy is a method of directly visualizing the modifications that can occur on the trachea and bronchi of our respiratory system. The bronchoscope is a fine tube that slides down the patient’s throat and into his lungs offering live images of the structure of the respiratory tract. This tube can even perform a small biopsy from the lung tissue or the bronchi. Testing the tissue prevailed by bronchoscopy can add a lot of information besides the CT scan.

Another test that can be done in order to diagnose lung cancer is the fine needle aspiration/biopsy of the lung. This procedure is made with a thin needle that takes fluid samples or even a small tissue fragment from the lung. Analyzing the data in a laboratory can diagnose lung cancer quite fast in case the cells from the samples are malignant.

Diagnosing lung cancer in an early stage is vital for the patient as therapy can be implemented faster and the chances of survival increased.