Diagnosis methods for advanced lung cancer

Lung cancer. In today's world shrouded in smog, it is not just smoking that can cause lung cancer. Most people are diagnosed with lung cancer when it is already in the middle or late stages, which is very puzzling. Why couldn’t it be detected earlier? Because cough, cold and fever are all related to lung cancer. Seventy percent of lung cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer. The reasons for the low early diagnosis rate are mainly the following:

First, many lung cancer patients may not have obvious symptoms in the early stages. If the tumor does not touch the trachea, there may be no coughing symptoms; if the tumor does not touch the pleura, there will be no chest pain; if the tumor does not invade or destroy the bronchial mucosa and surrounding blood vessels, there will be no coughing up blood.

Second, smoking and lung cancer are closely related. For people who have the habit of smoking, if they have a mild cough, they often do not take it seriously, thinking it is a normal reaction caused by smoking.

Third, long-term coughs are often easily treated as colds, bronchitis or lung inflammation.

Fourth, many patients who are suddenly diagnosed with advanced lung cancer often neglect to have regular physical examinations and miss the opportunity to detect the lesions in a timely manner. Some patients also participate in physical examinations, but the misdiagnosis rate of conventional chest X-ray examinations is high, and early lung cancer lesions are easily overlooked.

Therefore, people with no history of chronic bronchitis should be alert if they have an unexplained cough for a long time, or if the nature of the cough of a chronic cough patient suddenly changes. Blood in sputum or coughing up blood is also a common early symptom in patients with lung cancer. In addition, some patients may also experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, chest tightness, loss of appetite, chest pain, weight loss, joint pain, and fever.

At present, among the instruments for early and accurate diagnosis of tumors, PET/CT is the world's most advanced medical imaging diagnostic equipment. It integrates CT and PET, with CT providing precise anatomical positioning of lesions and PET providing detailed molecular information such as functions and metabolism of lesions. It has the characteristics of sensitive response, precise positioning and non-invasiveness. A single scan can understand the overall condition of the body and capture early primary or metastatic lesions, thereby achieving the purpose of early detection and diagnosis of the disease. It has been recognized as one of the best means for clinical diagnosis and guidance of tumor treatment.

In our understanding, most people are limited to the idea that smoking can cause lung cancer, which is wrong. We breathe through our noses, and whatever we breathe in goes into our lungs. However, our city is covered by a layer of haze. When we breathe the air, it is also mixed with substances that are harmful to our bodies. These substances are also caused by human beings. We have destroyed nature, and now nature has begun to "retaliate" against us. Protecting the earth is protecting ourselves!