Archive for the ‘Diagnostic Of Lung Cancer’ Category
Lung Cancer Diagnosis

To help find the cause of the symptoms, the doctor evaluates the person’s medical history, your history of smoking, exposure to environmental substances or craft and family history of cancer. The doctor also performs a physical exam and may order chest x-rays and other tests. If lung cancer is suspected, sputum cytology (microscopic examination of cells in a sample of phlegm from the lungs that comes from a deep cough) is a simple test that can be useful for detecting lung cancer. To confirm the presence of lung cancer, the doctor needs to examine lung tissue. A biopsy is the removal of a small sample of tissue for examination under a microscope by a pathologist and can show if a person has cancer. Several procedures can be used to obtain this tissue.
Bronchoscopy. The doctor puts a bronchoscope (a thin tube, light) by mouth or nose until you reach the windpipe to look into the airways. Through this tube, the doctor can collect cells or small tissue samples.
Needle aspiration. A needle is inserted into the tumor through the chest to remove a tissue sample.
Thoracentesis. Using a needle, the doctor removes a sample of fluid around the lungs for cancer cells.
Thoracotomy. Sometimes surgery is needed to open the chest to diagnose lung cancer. This procedure is a major operation that is performed in the hospital.
Test to Detect Lung Cancer

- Chest radiograph with which you can see any mass or spot on the lungs and reasonably set the probability of being a cancer. This test is performed in two projections, one front and one in profile. For more than 95% of cancer cases their results are abnormal.
- TAC: It consists of an X-ray emission from different perspectives and with that seen throughout the body. It is a simple test which usually lasts more than 15-30 minutes. This is more sensitive than radiography and it detects more early-stage cancer. It also serves to check for metastasis to other organs: liver, adrenal glands, brain and so on. It is the most widely used imaging test and profitable in the study of this disease. However, sometimes required to complete the study of CT with other more sensitive tests for specific sites of lung cancer: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain or spine, liver ultrasound, bone scan and so on.
- Magnetic resonance imaging is used to make detailed cross-sectional images. This technique uses magnetic fields and spectra emitted by phosphorus in body tissues and becomes the image. With it you can see the tumor vasculature. They are more accurate images with which one can observe the spread of cancer to the brain or spinal cord. It is often not too useful for exploring the lungs.
Diagnostic Of Lung Cancer

Only 15% of lung cancer is diagnosed in early stages, this is because the symptoms do not appear until the disease is advanced. If no lymph node involvement at the time of surgery, the survival rate five years is 50%. Considering all cases globally, the survival rate is reduced to 14%.
There are various diagnostic tests that visualize the lung tumors at different stages.
The doctor will use a method to detect cancer if there is prior suspicion. The patient’s medical history is the first to be conducted to assess personal and family history. The doctor will ask about the existence of cancer and other diseases in the family, snuff consumption, environmental or occupational exposure to substances that produce lung cancer and respiratory disease or any other suffering the ill.
The physical examination will take into account the symptoms that the patient concerned, and with it, it can obtain data that can help diagnose any disease.