Diagnosing lung cancer is one of the major steps and is very important in the attempt to curtail the adverse effect of the disease. Diagnosing lung cancer is different depending on the individual affected. Individual patients experience different outcomes when it comes to the issue of lung cancer which includes different symptoms, different stages, different treatment plans and so on. Medical team chooses tests based on a number of factors which include.
- Medical history
- Symptoms experienced
- Physical examination
However, lung cancer can be diagnosed through screening, as screening helps in finding most lung cancer tumors. Studies reveal that screening has saved many lives by finding lung cancer early which is a stage where the treatment carried out can be certain to be successful. The actual diagnosis of lung cancer is made by looking at samples of lung cells under a microscope. Several tests are often carried out by doctors to diagnose lung cancer. Tests like imaging tests create pictures of organs in the body. These pictures make it easy for doctors to locate the exact position of the cancer, and also check if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Imaging test can also be used to check if an already given treatment is working or not.
Moreover, another test use to diagnose lung cancer is the sputum cytology. In this test, the sputum coughed out from the lung is examined under the microscope to know if there is presence of lung cancer cells. Tissue samples are removed from the lung through a procedure called biopsy, these samples are checked under the microscope to reveal cancerous cells. Besides the tests, staging can be used to diagnose lung cancer, the stage at which the lung cancer is being discovered will enable the doctor to know the treatment that is most appropriate to be carried out.