How is lung cancer diagnosed and treated?
Written in association with:Top Doctors recently spoke to highly revered consultant pulmonologist, Dr Raghu Raju, who, here in our latest article, explains what lung cancer is, outlines the different types of lung cancer, and details how it is treated.
What is lung cancer?
It is cancer that originates in the lung. It might be found in the tubes that lead to the lung or the lining of the lung. Lung cancer is malignant, which means that the cancer will grow if unchecked and untreated.
What are the different types of lung cancer?
There are several different ways of classifying lung cancer. It is typically divided into small-cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Both of these different types of cells can be seen when we carry out a biopsy. The reason why they are categorised is because they have slightly different prognoses and treatments.
What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
Symptoms of lung cancer can include one or more of the following:
- coughing up blood
- chest pain that doesn’t improve by itself
- persistent cough
- breathlessness which doesn’t improve
- weight loss
- loss of appetite
How is lung cancer diagnosed?
A chest X-ray will be the first step if lung cancer is suspected. This is always followed up with a CT scan, which is a more definitive test. After this, a lung biopsy will be taken from the lung tissue that looks like cancer.
This can either be a needle biopsy, a local anaesthetic-guided biopsy, an endoscopy into the lungs, or it could be a biopsy of the lymph nodes in the neck. A PET scan can, in some cases, also be carried out.
How is lung cancer treated?
This depends on the stage of the lung cancer. If caught early, it has a very good prognosis. It can be either removed surgically or one can undergo radiofrequency ablation or radical radiotherapy.
If the cancer is caught at a later stage, these treatments can be accompanied by radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Immunotherapy can also be highly effective.
Dr Raghu Raju is a highly experienced consultant pulmonologist who specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. To book an appointment with him, simply head on over to his Top Doctors profile today.
