How to detect lung cancer

How to detect lung cancer? Many people have this misunderstanding: if there is no problem with the usual physical examination, there will be no serious illness such as cancer. In fact, this is not the case. Cancer cannot be detected through ordinary physical examinations. Even if there are some signs in routine indicators, it is difficult to diagnose whether this is a precancerous lesion or cancer. Several cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer may be detected early through routine health examinations and surveys without symptoms. Tumors in more superficial areas, such as skin cancer and oral cancer, can be diagnosed by timely biopsy during physical examinations. Some tumors located inside the body may also be detected early through routine examinations. For example, asymptomatic early kidney cancer and early liver cancer can be detected early through ultrasound examinations. So, how to detect lung cancer?

1. Bronchoscopy

It is a very important method in the examination of lung cancer. Through bronchoscope, the pathological changes of the bronchial lining and lumen can be directly observed. If cancer or cancerous infiltration is observed, tissue can be taken for pathological section examination, or bronchial secretions can be aspirated for cytological examination to clarify the diagnosis and determine the histological type.

2. Radionuclide examination

Radioactive drugs such as 67Ga-citrate have an affinity for lung cancer and its metastatic lesions. After intravenous injection, they can be concentrated in the tumor and can be used to diagnose lung cancer and show the extent of the cancer. The positive rate can reach about 90%. This is also one of the examination items for lung cancer.

3. X-ray examination

This type of lung cancer examination can help you understand the location and size of lung cancer. Although X-ray examinations of early lung cancer cases may not show a mass, local emphysema and atelectasis caused by bronchial obstruction, or infiltrative lesions or pulmonary inflammation near the lesion may be seen.

4. Pathological examination

Pathological cytology examination includes sputum exfoliative cytology, fiberoptic bronchoscopy and percutaneous lung puncture. Among them, sputum exfoliative cytology is the simplest, most economical and effective method for pathological diagnosis, with a positive rate of 60% to 80%. It is generally believed that the positive rate of sputum examination for central lung cancer is higher than that for peripheral lung cancer. The consistency rate between cytological diagnosis and pathological histological diagnosis of small cell lung cancer is the highest, followed by squamous cell carcinoma, and the lowest is adenocarcinoma.