Unfortunately, a lot of lung cancers present themselves at an advanced stage. In order to make a diagnosis for cancer the patient needs to be scanned through a CT Scan, PET Scan, and/or an MRI. After these scanning tests come a biopsy, which can be done using different methods depending on the location of the suspected cancer. For a lung biopsy, a direct needle biopsy is performed or a bronchoscopy. The standard screening test for a heavy smoker is the CT Scan.
Abraham Chachoua, MD, Professor of Oncology at NYU Langone Medical Center's Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, recommends screening be done in a hospital that has an NCI-Designated Cancer Center, with a radiologist who has the equipment needed to perform these screening tests.
Dr. Chachoua is an oncologist at NYU Langone Health who specializes in treating cancers of the lung and chest.
References
American Lung Association. (2022). Diagnosing and treating lung cancer.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Lung cancer: What screening tests are there?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). What are the risk factors for lung cancer?
National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Lung cancer-patient version.
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