During your initial diagnostic exam, your doctor will ask about your personal and family health history, conduct a physical exam, and order several tests.
The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is the only facility in San Diego and one of only a handful on the West Coast to provide lung cancer diagnosis via endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS). This procedure allows your physician to perform a biopsy of chest masses and lymph nodes without conventional surgery (mediastinoscopy). Another alternative to mediastinoscopy offered at UCSD is trans-esophageal endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). The samples obtained through either proedure can be used for diagnosing and staging lung cancer.
Whether EBUS or EUS is utilized depends upon the location of the tumor. When neither procedure is possible, a mediastinoscopy is performed, in which a small incision is made in the upper part of the chest and a camera is used to find and retrieve lymph nodes.
Additional diagnostic tests may include:
- Blood test
- Chest x-ray
- Computed Tomography (CT) scan or Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan
- Sputum cytology: the lab examines your sputum (mucus coughed up from the lungs) for cancer cells
- Thoracentesis: a needle is used to remove fluid from your chest
- Bronchoscopy: a thin, lighted tube (bronchoscope) is inserted into the lungs through the nose or mouth, so that the doctor may look inside the airways for abnormal areas. A tissue sample may be taken.
- Fine-needle aspiration: a thin needle is used to remove the specimen from the lungs or lymph nodes.
- Thorascoscopy: The surgeon makes several small incisions in the chest and back, looks at the lungs and nearby tissues with a thin, lighted tube, and takes tissue samples as needed.
- Thoractomy: The chest is opened with a long incision so that lymph nodes and other tissue can be removed.
- Mediastinoscopy: A small incision is made in the upper part of the chest and a camera is used to find and retrieve lymph nodes
Staging: How Wide-spread Is It?
A process called staging is used to determine how much your cancer has spread and what treatment options will be considered.
Generally, physicians consider the cancer to be:
- Early Stage
- Locally Advanced
- Advanced
Click here for information on the types and stages of lung cancer.