The reason behind most of the lung cancer-related deaths is the late diagnosis. People misinterpret the early signs and symptoms of lung cancer, and when it gets diagnosed, cancer reaches its painful stage, and it becomes quite difficult to cure that. But with the on-time Lung Cancer Screening, the presence of lung cancer cells in the body can be checked even though no symptom and medical history are correlating with Lung Cancer.
The Lung Cancer Screening test is most chosen by the people who are the longtime smokers and by the adult age people as smoking and aging are two of the most common causes of lung cancer.
The recommended and only test for lung cancer screening is low-dose computerized tomography (LDCT). In LDCT, a machine with low-intensity radiation scans the lungs and provides a detailed image of the Lungs. Do read the complete article, to know more about Lung cancer screening and different aspects related to it.
Who Should Consider Lung Cancer Screening?
The sole aim of lung cancer screening is to find or detect the presence of lung cancer cells at an early stage. By identifying the presence of lung cancer at the initial stage, it becomes easy to cure it. Now, the question comes that whether all people should undergo lung cancer screening or only the selected people should undergo lung cancer screening. Most commonly, Lung Cancer screening is suggested to those people who are at the highest risk of lung cancer and that are:
- Old age adults who are smokers or past smokers: Lung Cancer Screening is recommended to the old age people of 55 and above age who has a habit of smoking or have a history of smoking.
- People who have smoked heavily for many years: The people who have smoked heavily for many years are also at the high risk of lung cancer. Lung Cancer screening is recommended to those who have smoked one pack of cigarettes for 30 years or two packs of cigarettes for 15 years.
- Currently, a non-smoker but has a history of heavy smoking: Lung Cancer Screening is suggested to the people who are presently the non-smokers but possess a history of heavy smoking.
- People with a history of lung cancer: If any person has a history of lung cancer, then there is a possibility of reoccurrence of cancer. Screening can be useful in this case.
- People with other risk factors for lung cancer: Anyone who is suffering from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or has a family history of cancer or in continues exposure to asbestos are at high risk of lung cancer. Go for lung cancer screening, to diagnose the disease at the right stage.
How you prepare for Lung Cancer Screening
- For the accurate result from LDCT Scan, follow the below points: Do inform the doctor about respiratory tract infection, If any: Respiratory tract infection can cause changes in the result of LDCT Scan. So, it is suggested to avoid screening for a month or two, if you are facing a problem of respiratory tract infection or recently recovered from the respiratory tract infection.
- Remove all the metal you’re wearing: It is strictly said that the patient should never wear any metallic material while undergoing the LDCT Scan. The metallic material can cause abnormalities.
Possible Results of Lung Cancer Screening
The different possible outcomes of lung cancer screening are as follows:
- No abnormalities: All like this outcome. When the presence of cancer cells in contrary, it is suggested to enjoy and maintain a healthy routine and come back for the cancer screening after a period of one year (it feels so).
- Lung Nodules: This kind of a result of lung cancer screening means that there is a presence of cancerous cells. The cells may appear as the small spots in the lungs.
- Other Health Problems: The presence of Lung Cancer is negative, but there is a possibility that the person is suffering from other heart or lung diseases.
Risks of Lung Cancer Screening
The risk factors linked to Lung Cancer Screening tests are:
- False-positive result: This means that a person does not have lung cancer, but the result of screening is quite the opposite to it. Due to this, the patient can face a number of follow-up tests and surgeries which can be harmful. But the possibility of such kind of situation is quite unusual.
- Overdiagnosis: Overdiagnosis refers to the situation in which the patient face the tests which are not needed.
- Being exposed to a low level of radiation: The radiation which is used to carry out LDCT is less than that of regular scans.
- False-negative results: There is a possibility that the screening test says that you don’t have lung cancer, but in actual you have.
These are some of the risks which are associated with the Lung Cancer Screening tests. To know about the detailed proceeding of Lung Cancer screening, the patients are advised to book an appointment with the experienced panel of cancer specialists at Candrol.
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