What are the appropriate examinations for lung cancer? 4 examination items to rule out lung cancer

Often, due to poor working environment, bad living habits, long-term smoking or inhalation of second-hand smoke, lung cancer is induced, which seriously damages human health. It causes a double blow to the body and mind. In fact, if lung cancer can be found at an early stage, it is still easy to treat. If you want to diagnose it as soon as possible, you must do a good job of examination.

1. Sputum exfoliative cytology is simple and easy to perform, but the positive detection rate is only 50% to 80%, and there is a 1% to 2% false positive rate. This method is suitable for general screening in high-risk groups and for the diagnosis of isolated lung shadows or unexplained hemoptysis.

2. Percutaneous lung puncture cytology is suitable for peripheral lesions and is not suitable for thoracotomy cases for various reasons. Other methods have not been able to establish a histological diagnosis. At present, it tends to be combined with CT to use a fine needle, which is safer to operate and has fewer complications. The positive rate is 74% to 96% in malignant tumors, while it is lower at 50% to 74% in benign tumors. Complications include pneumothorax 20% to 35% (about 1/4 of which require treatment), small amount of hemoptysis 3%, fever 1.3%, air embolism 0.5%, and needle tract implantation 0.02%. Thoracic surgery is less used because it has thoracoscopy, thoracotomy and other means.

3. Patients suspected or confirmed of lung cancer by thoracentesis cytology may have pleural effusion or pleural metastasis. The cell analysis of pleural effusion extracted by thoracentesis can clarify the stage and provide a basis for diagnosis in some cases. For lung cancer with pleural effusion, bronchopulmonary adenocarcinoma has the highest detection rate, and its positive rate of cytological diagnosis is 40% to 75%. If the cytological analysis of the pleural effusion obtained by puncture cannot make a diagnosis, further examination methods such as thoracoscopy can be considered.

4. Scalene and supraclavicular lymph node biopsy For lung cancer patients, routine biopsy cannot palpate the scalene or supraclavicular lymph nodes, and metastasis is rarely found. For patients with palpable supraclavicular lymph nodes, the diagnosis rate is close to 90%. Biopsy occasionally causes complications such as pneumothorax and massive bleeding. Even if complications are rare, for cases where lymph nodes can be palpated in the scalene or supraclavicular muscles, FNAB (fine needle aspiration biopsy) is currently recommended, while surgical biopsy of the lymph nodes is reserved. Routine histology and appropriate immunohistochemistry examinations are helpful for the diagnosis of cell typing.

Early diagnosis and early treatment can eliminate the disease as soon as possible, reduce the patient's pain, and give the patient a healthy and complete lung. All this depends on strict and detailed physical examinations. A good examination can help doctors diagnose the condition.