The Diagnosis of Cancer
Although it may be different depending on the location and nature of symptoms, the diagnosis of cancer is usually based on the following considerations:
Clinical trial to evaluate the general condition
1. Auscultation, the physician to see the visible or palpable signs of the disease.
2. Tests of urine and blood of the students knowledge of key elements, including:
* The number of red blood cells, white cells and platelets
* Hb
* The proportion of creatinine –
* Some markers (products for the presence of malignant cells in context)
Endoscopy to explore a cave
(The introduction of an endoscope, a thin flexible tube with an optical system) in a cavity, the physician and a possible violation.
- Endoscopy examined the stomach and bronchi:
* During endoscopy of the stomach, the endoscope is introduced into the digestive tract through the mouth (sometimes) under light sedation. This study does not take more than 5 minutes and is painless (although ill at ease in passing the endoscope BE).
* During bronchoscopy fiber optic endoscope is introduced into the lungs through the nose.
These 2 tests are no more than 5 minutes, and although unpleasant, they are not painful.
- A colonoscopy examines the colon, the endoscope into the anus (under anesthesia) to add polyps and detect even very small samples to take the character to analyze.
Radiographic imaging of the lungs and bones
Though increasingly replaced by new techniques, radiography remains a central role in the diagnosis of lung cancer and bone cancer.
Ultrasound to view organs and withdrawals
After applying the gel on the skin of the patient, the doctor moves a probe over the area he wants to explore and view images directly on a screen using ultrasound. Ultrasound can detect changes and make it visible for accurate sampling.
Exploring mammography for breast cancer
There is a chest X-rays to detect abnormalities (mild or severe). They do not provide a definitive diagnosis can lead to additional testing.
MR to study the brain, spine, bones and soft tissue tumors
The patient lies on a bed, have some sort of success. The device supports a large number of images, the effect will be analyzed by computer. This test is relatively long () 20 to 30 minutes and is painless. While “locked in the device, the patient remains in contact with the manager and they are called by a bell.
The scanner to scan the whole body, especially the lungs
Also available as a scanner consists of a bed that slides into a sort of big ring. It takes a series of photographs of the body surface to explore the X-ray “steps. The images are assembled by computer. This type of scan (up to 5 minutes) is absolutely painless.
The PET scan to detect cancer
This study is based on the injection of a glucose-like and weakly radioactive shows cancer cells, as they consume more glucose than healthy cells. The malignant cells are the absorption of radioactive material and can be identified by a special camera (the camera PET: positron emission) tomography. Totally painless test takes about 30 minutes.
Biopsy for a definitive diagnosis
Especially after the discovery of an anomaly in a first study (see above) that the physician has a biopsy, which means taking a sample of tissue from the body as cancer. Only analysis of cells (histology) of this section will reaffirm their cancer type and degree of malignancy. The biopsy was performed under local anesthesia, or sometimes even done.
In cases of suspected breast cancer, we make a special biopsy called a Mammotome biopsy.