Early diagnosis methods for lung cancer patients

Early diagnosis of lung cancer is one of the topics that many patients are currently concerned about. Since the early symptoms of lung cancer are not very obvious, it can only be discovered through a healthy physical examination. So what are the methods for early diagnosis of lung cancer?

Although the early symptoms of lung cancer are not obvious, there are still many methods for diagnosis. The more common ones are low-dose spiral CT, sputum cytology, fiber bronchoscopy, and the appearance of extrapulmonary symptoms of lung cancer, which can all be used as the basis for early diagnosis of lung cancer.

1. Low-dose spiral CT. It is very important in the early diagnosis of lung cancer, and has a particularly high detection rate for peripheral lung cancer, but the cost is relatively high, and CT lacks specific signs in the qualitative analysis of lung diseases, especially for soft tissue masses without calcification and fat components, which are difficult to characterize.

2. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy is a commonly used method for early diagnosis of lung cancer and is of great significance for the diagnosis of central lung cancer. However, it is limited in the diagnosis of precancerous lesions, and it is difficult to judge abnormalities with the naked eye. In addition, its examination range is limited to the bronchial mucosa near the lung segmental opening and cannot detect peripheral lung cancer.

3. Sputum cytology examination: Repeated sputum cytology examination is very helpful in diagnosing central lung cancer originating from the trachea.