Can routine blood tests detect lung cancer?

The lungs play a very important role in our breathing. However, the occurrence of lung cancer is like a pair of ruthless hands, pushing the patient into the abyss. It may cause devastating damage to the human body and may also affect the patient's life safety. The treatment of lung cancer is imminent, but first of all, we must do the corresponding diagnosis work and judge the condition before symptomatic treatment. How to diagnose lung cancer:

1. Specific tumor antigen detection: extract the patient's peripheral blood for culture to confirm the number of cancer cells, tumor load, and immune deficiency in the patient. It is the most advanced diagnostic method at present.

2. Sputum cytology tests a sample of sputum (the phlegm coughed up from your lungs) to see if there are cancer cells.

3. Bronchoscopy A lighted, flexible tube called a bronchoscope is passed through the mouth and into the bronchi. This test can help find tumors and take samples of tissue or fluid to see if cancer cells are present. After lung cancer is diagnosed, bronchoscopy is used to thoroughly examine the lining of the other airways of the lungs. If other cancers are found that are not close to the original one, it may not be possible to remove all of the cancerous tissue.

4. Mediastinoscopy: The patient is under general anesthesia (deep sleep), and a hollow, lighted tube is inserted from under the sternum through a small incision at the bottom of the neck. Special instruments can be passed through this tube to sample the mediastinal lymph nodes (along the trachea and major bronchial areas).

5. Thoracentesis This procedure is used to determine whether the fluid around the lungs is caused by cancer spreading to the pleura (the thin membrane that surrounds the lungs) or is caused by factors unrelated to cancer, such as heart failure or infection. A needle is placed between the ribs to drain the fluid, and cancer cells are looked for under a microscope. If fluid collects around the lungs, it prevents the lungs from being inflated, so thoracentesis can help the person breathe better.

6. Thoracoscopy This technique uses a thin lighted tube connected to a TV camera and monitor to view the space between the lungs and the chest wall. This allows doctors to see tumors on the surface of the lungs and to take biopsies of any suspicious areas.

Lung cancer needs to be detected and treated early. Although the possibility of cure is not high, if the disease is not controlled in time, it will further deteriorate. The occurrence of lung cancer is terrible, so we must do a good job of lung health care in life to avoid the occurrence of lung cancer.