Stating that there are tests that risk group patients will have for early diagnosis without leaving it to chance, Dr. Ulus gave detailed information about lung cancer.
Stating that the obvious symptoms of lung cancer can be “cough, pain, blood spitting, joint pain”, Prof. Dr. Tümer Ulus said, “These symptoms can be seen. But sometimes, even without any symptoms, the diagnosis can be made by accidental chest X-ray.
Emphasizing that smokers in the risk group, those living in an area with asbestos, the age group over 40, and people with a family history of cancer should have a chest X-ray at least once a year. Dr. Ulus stated that in cases where plain chest X-ray is insufficient, tomography should be taken.
Pointing out that advanced tests should be used to accurately determine and diagnose the coincidentally detected disease, Prof. Dr. Ulus said, “PET-CT (positron emission tomography-computed tomography), which has made a great contribution to diagnosis, staging and post-treatment evaluation by detecting the metabolic activity level of the lesion in oncological imaging, has come into use in recent years. PET-CT is an effective and noninvasive method for the evaluation of solitary pulmonary nodules and mass lesions.
When a lung mass is detected to be malignant, qualified results can be obtained according to the current diagnostic methods of PET-CT in accurately determining the extent of the disease.
He also noted that the patient can be diagnosed as a result of these examinations, but in order to confirm the diagnosis of cancer, a biopsy should be performed from the tissue seen and it should be determined whether there is a definite cancer according to the result.
“DEFINITE DIAGNOSIS SHOULD NOT BE DONE BEFORE PATHOLOGY”
Talking about reliable examination methods in lung and other cancer types, Prof. Dr. Ulus said, “However, it should be noted that although the result of these examinations is sometimes considered positive, that is, the probability of a tumor is high, it is also possible that the determined mass is not a tumor as a result of the biopsy performed by removing it. In this case, it is our duty as physicians not to make the definitive diagnosis of patients who present with such suspicious images without performing a pathological examination.
prof. Dr. Ulus underlined that if lung cancer is diagnosed early today, the success of treatment increases and said:
“If the tumor can be removed by surgery in cases diagnosed early, treatments such as complementary therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy can be applied, and if these things come true, the quality of life of the lung cancer patient will increase, and the chance of a better and longer life will be increased.”