How to detect small cell lung cancer in the early stage

How to check for small cell lung cancer in the early stages? Recently I have heard many people say that they are very anxious when they get small cell lung cancer in the early stages and they don’t know how to check it. So what tests should be done for small cell lung cancer in the early stages? Let’s follow us to learn about it.

Chest X-ray is the simplest, easiest and cheapest examination method.

1. Chest CT: It can show lesions that cannot be found by ordinary X-ray examination, and show the range and degree of involvement of the hilar lymph nodes and mediastinum.

2. Positron emission tomography (PET): Whole-body PET is significantly more accurate than CT and radionuclide bone scanning in identifying lung masses, lymph nodes or distant metastases.

3. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy: It can observe the location, size and extent of the tumor infiltrating into the bronchial cavity, and obtain tissue for pathological examination. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a new technology. For lesions with only airway compression but no intracavitary tumors, this examination can help clarify the extent of the lesion and improve the accuracy of transmural biopsy.

4. Percutaneous lung biopsy: It is performed under the guidance of CT. The biopsy positive rate is as high as 90%. If the tumor contains a large part of necrotic area, it is often false negative.

5. Thoracoscopic and open-chest biopsy: For peripheral lesions, mediastinal lesions, or pleural lesions that are difficult to diagnose, thoracoscopy or open-chest exploratory biopsy may be considered.

6. Whole body bone scan: If a whole body bone scan indicates areas of high metabolism, the patient's medical history should be carefully inquired and combined with MRI to determine whether it is metastasis.