How to diagnose small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer is becoming more and more harmful to people. More male patients suffer from this disease because they often smoke. Having small cell lung cancer is not a terrible thing. At this time, you should pay more attention to your diet, medication, and daily life. Small cell lung cancer is a lesion in the lungs. Sometimes the patient's breathing will be abnormal and the patient will feel very uncomfortable. How to diagnose small cell lung cancer? Let us learn about it below.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for about 20% of lung cancer. It is highly malignant, has a short doubling time, early and extensive metastasis, is sensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and has a high initial remission rate. However, it is very prone to secondary drug resistance and relapse. Treatment is mainly based on systemic chemotherapy.

Differential diagnosis methods include:

A chest X-ray is the simplest, easiest and cheapest method of examination.

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

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): It is not as good as CT in detecting small lung lesions, but it can more clearly show the relationship between the tumor and large blood vessels. When determining whether there is intracranial metastasis, enhanced MRI is the first choice.

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.

Sputum cytology examination: The positive rate is related to the location and size of the tumor, the quality of the sputum, whether there is concurrent infection, etc. The detection rate of central lung cancer is higher, but it is difficult to determine the type, and it is currently not recommended.

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy: It can observe the location, size and extent of the tumor infiltrating 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.

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

The above is the diagnosis method of small cell lung cancer. I hope it can attract patients' attention and help them recover their health as soon as possible.