What are the diagnostic methods for lung cancer?

Lung cancer occurs in the bronchial mucosal epithelium and is also called bronchial lung cancer. If lung cancer cannot be detected in time, it is very dangerous. So do you want to know the diagnosis of lung cancer? This will help to treat the disease in time.

(1) X-ray examination: X-ray examination is one of the diagnostic methods for lung cancer. It includes chest fluoroscopy, chest X-ray film, chest CT scan and other methods. The location and size of lung tumors can be understood through chest X-ray examination. Ordinary chest X-ray films can clearly show the density, boundaries, pleural changes, central liquefaction and other characteristics of tumors. Therefore, chest X-ray films are usually taken first, and chest CT scans are performed for further examination. Chest CT scans are superior to ordinary chest X-ray films in understanding the location of lesions, their relationship with surrounding organs, small pleural nodules or small amounts of pleural effusions, segmental atelectasis, enlarged lymph nodes in various groups of mediastinum, and small metastatic lesions in the lungs.

(2) Sputum cytology: Most patients with primary central lung cancer can find detached cancer cells in their sputum, and the histological type of the cancer cells can be determined. Therefore, sputum cytology is the most effective method for diagnosing lung cancer. In order to improve the detection rate, it is important to pay attention to the beginning of coughing up sputum, and cough up real sputum from the "deep" part of the lungs, not just saliva. In recent years, thin-layer liquid-based cytology technology has greatly improved the positive rate of sputum cytology.

(3) Fiberoptic bronchoscopy: It can directly observe the pathological changes of the bronchial endothelium and lumen. When cancer or cancerous infiltration is found, some abnormal tissue can be clamped for pathological section examination, or bronchial secretions can be aspirated for cytological examination to clarify the diagnosis and determine the histological type. Routine fiberoptic bronchoscopy before surgery can help surgeons determine the location of the lesion and decide the extent of resection.

(4) CT-guided percutaneous lung puncture biopsy: It is suitable for patients with peripheral lesions who have not been diagnosed with histopathology by other methods. This procedure is safer and has fewer complications. The probability of obtaining a pathological diagnosis in malignant tumors is 74% to 96%.

(5) Video-mediastinoscopy: This type of lung cancer diagnosis is mainly used to determine whether there is mediastinal lymph node metastasis of lung cancer. It is used to verify cases where chest CT and PET-CT suggest suspected mediastinal lymph node metastasis. Clinical findings: 20-30% of cases with mediastinal lymph node metastasis suggested by CT and PET-CT are false positives, as confirmed by video-mediastinoscopy and surgical operations.

(6) Biopsy of metastatic lesions: In advanced lung cancer cases with superficial lymph node metastasis in the supraclavicular, cervical, axillary, etc., or subcutaneous metastatic nodules, biopsy of metastatic lesions can be performed for pathological section examination or smear examination of tissues by puncture to confirm the diagnosis. This is usually done in the surgical outpatient operating room.

(7) Brain MRI and whole-body bone scan: to exclude brain metastases and multiple bone metastases throughout the body.

(8) Positron emission tomography (PET and PET-CT). PET and PET-CT have unique advantages for lung nodules and mediastinal lymph node enlargement that cannot be clearly diagnosed by chest CT. Since they are not currently included in the medical insurance reimbursement catalog, they are not used as routine examinations.

The above eight points are an introduction to the diagnosis of lung cancer. I hope that reading this article will be helpful to you. Experts remind everyone that if you suffer from any disease in your daily life, you must not delay treatment. This is very dangerous. Some diseases will worsen or cause other diseases.

For more information, please visit the lung cancer topic at http://www..com.cn/zhongliu/fa/ or consult an expert for free. The expert will then give a detailed answer based on the patient's specific situation.