What tests are needed to diagnose lung cancer? These tests must be done to rule out lung cancer

Lung cancer is a serious respiratory disease. Many people with lung cancer will go to the hospital for examination and treatment. So what tests should be done for the diagnosis of lung cancer? Here are some introductions:

X-ray examination: X-ray examination is one of the most commonly used and basic methods for diagnosing lung cancer, including chest fluoroscopy, chest X-ray, chest CT scan and other methods.

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

Sputum cytology examination: 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 examination is a simple and effective method for lung cancer screening and diagnosis.

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 determine the extent of resection.

Video mediastinoscopy: 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 where CT and pET-CT suggest mediastinal lymph node metastasis are false positives, as confirmed by video mediastinoscopy and surgery.