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Lung cancer can strike at any age, though it is more frequent in those over the age of 60 or in those who have a history of smoking and exposure to industrial air pollutants such as asbestos, so if you or anyone you know is experiencing the following symptoms then you will want to tell your medical practitioner right away and get in for a Chest X-ray or CT scan. The common symptoms are the following: unexplained weight loss, consistent cough, the so called “smoker’s cough” changes, coughing up blood, decreased or absent of breath, dull chest pain, new wheezing, and hoarseness. You also will want to talk to your medical practitioner about any risk factors that you may have.
The diagnostic tests will be able to tell if anything is not normal around your lungs. CT Scans often show suspicious areas in the lungs that look like cancerous lesions or tumors. If you have been told you have a nodule on your lung, your medical practitioner can run various tests to investigate further the nodule that was found. If it does come back as a tumor after those tests, you don’t have to worry yet. The next step is a biopsy examination. It is an important means of diagnosing cancer from a fragment of tumor and able to tell if it is cancerous or just a tumor.
If the various tests confirm cancer, there is a good chance that follow up tests will be done to determine how far the cancer has spread. This is why early detection is so important.
Chest X-rays
The most widely used machine to diagnose conditions involving the chest and it’s contents and structures contained within including the lungs. They are the most affordable and fastest way used to detect lung cancer. However, for some conditions of the chest, it is good for screening but poor for diagnosis. Additional imaging of the test can be obtained.
Computed Tomography
Is another form of X-ray examination where in the X-ray source and detector rotate around the patient to be scanned and it has become an important tool in medical field and more recently been used to detect diseases. A painless procedure and it’s done using computerized imaging machines that could take consecutive pictures. It is also able to find lung cancer early stage.
Bronchoscopy
An instrument called bronchoscope is inserted into the airways, to look into the trachea and bronchi and to diagnose or treat a variety of lung-related diseases. Bronchoscope does not allow for direct viewing and inspection of he lung tissue itself, the samples of the lung tissue can be biopsied through the tool for examination in the laboratory.
Sputum Test
A sputum test examines sputum, a thick fluid produced in the lungs. Sampling may be done by expectorated, induced or via endotracheal tube to find abnormal cells as well as to detect and identify bacteria or fungi that infect the lungs or breathing passages.
Biopsy
It is the medical removal of tissue from a living subject to determine the presence or extent of a disease. Most biopsies are needle biopsies. The sample tissues will be examined under a microscope to assist in diagnosis.
