Lung cancer screening: Here are things you need to know

People with an increased risk of lung cancer may be considered for an annual lung cancer screening using low-dose CT scans

By: Debjani Arora | | Published: August 20, 2018 3:56 pm

Like most cancers lung cancer grow and destroy your organs silently. The damage comes to the fore when the situation has gone beyond the control. Not many people will reach out to a doctor to screen their lungs as a preventive measure and check if there are any unusual growths benign or malignant in the lungs. Lung cancer is not asymptomatic and usually represents the symptoms early which we fail to pick on. The symptoms are usually so trivial that one can mistake it for a seasonal cough or a respiratory infection – whopping cough, chest pain, blood in cough (this could be a red flag), etc. By the time one reaches to the doctor the condition worsens steadily. However, people with an increased risk of lung cancer may be considered for an annual lung cancer screening using low-dose CT scans. It is generally offered to people over 55 years of age who smoked heavily for many years and is otherwise healthy. Also Read - Prostate cancer: Bring down you risk of this condition by having several cups of coffee a day

Here are ways in which a screening for lung cancer is done: Also Read - Thyroid cancer: In-utero exposures can increase your risk of this disease

Chest x-rays: An X-ray of your lungs will be taken to check any abnormal mass or nodule, which will be like a first of the many tests to ascertain lung cancer. If a nodule appears in x-ray then a CT scan is done to reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray. Also Read - Make these diet and lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of cancer

Sputum cytology: If one of your symptoms is a whooping cough and you are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells.

Biopsy: A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a biopsy to check for cancerous cells. There are various ways in which your doctor can check for cancerous cells in lungs, some of the well known ways are:

Bronchoscopy: In this procedure the doctor examines abnormal areas of the lungs using a lighted tube that’s passed down the throat and into the lungs
Mediastinoscopy: In this procedure an incision is made at the base of your neck and surgical tools are inserted behind your breastbone to take tissue samples from lymph nodes; and needle biopsy with help of X-ray or CT images to guide a needle through the chest wall and into the lung tissue to collect suspicious cells. Some time the biopsy sample is also taken from the lymph nodes or liver where the doctor suspects the cancer to spread.

A careful analysis of the cancer cells help to decide which stage your cancer is in and what is the status. The stage of the cancer helps the doctor to decide what treatment is most appropriate.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published : August 20, 2018 3:56 pm

Read Disclaimer