Diagnosis Of Lung Cancer: Links To Resources From Radiopaedia

Note to me: In this post I link to resources on the diagnosis of lung cancer from Radiopaedia that I have reviewed today. Each of the articles is very brief and all need to be reviewed again when I revisit this post.

Lung cancer
Last revised by Dr Mohammadtaghi Niknejad◉ on 01 Nov 2022

Lung cancer (primary lung cancer), or frequently if somewhat incorrectly known as bronchogenic carcinoma, is a broad term referring to the main histological subtypes of primary lung malignancies that are mainly linked with inhaled carcinogens, with cigarette smoke being a key culprit.

This article will broadly discuss all the histological subtypes as a group, focusing on their common aspects and for further details please refer to the specific articles on each subtype described below.

Patients with lung cancer may be asymptomatic in up to 50% of cases*. Cough and dyspnea are ratherh-specific symptoms that are common amongst those with lung cancer.

*This is why we should be alert to recommending lung cancer screening to patients who qualify for that service. [USPTF Final Recommendation Statement Lung Cancer: Screening, March 09, 2021]

Central tumors may result in hemoptysis and peripheral lesions with pleuritic chest pain.

Pneumonia, pleural effusion, wheeze, lymphadenopathy are not uncommon. Other symptoms may be secondary to metastases (bone, contralateral lung, brain, adrenal glands, and liver, in frequency order for NSCLC 12) or paraneoplastic syndromes.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung
Last revised by Dr Joshua Yap◉ on 21 Oct 2022

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the non-small cell carcinomas of the lung, second only to adenocarcinoma of the lung as the most commonly encountered lung cancer.

Squamous cell carcinoma accounts for ~30-35% of all lung cancers and in most instances is due to heavy smoking 3. Historically it was the most common type of lung cancer but in many countries has gradually declined over the past four decades with a rise in adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is now the most common in many series 4.

Adenocarcinoma of the lung
Last revised by Dr Rohit Sharma◉ on 08 Oct 2022

Adenocarcinoma of the lung is the most common histologic type of lung cancer. Grouped under the non-small cell carcinomas of the lung, it is a malignant tumor with glandular differentiation or mucin production expressing in different patterns and degrees of differentiation.

This article brings a broad view over lung adenocarcinoma, for further details on each subtype, please refer to the specific articles listed below.

It is now considered the most common histological subtype in terms of prevalence, causing 38.5% of all cases 9.

Early symptoms are fatigue with mild dyspnea followed by a chronic cough and hemoptysis at a later stage.

Large-cell lung cancer
Last revised by Dr Bruno Di Muzio◉◈ on 30 Jun 2020

Large-cell lung cancer is one of the histological types of non-small-cell carcinomas of the lung diagnosed only on resection, after exclusion of adenocarcinomatous or squamous differentiation.

It is thought to account for approximately 10% of bronchogenic carcinoma 1.

Small cell lung cancer
Last revised by Dr Mohammadtaghi Niknejad◉ on 01 Nov 2022

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC), also known as oat cell lung cancer, is a subtype of bronchogenic carcinoma separated from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as it has a unique presentation, imaging appearances, treatment, and prognosis. Small cell lung cancers are neuroendocrine tumors of the lung that rapidly grow, are highly malignant, widely metastasize, and, despite showing an initial response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, have a poor prognosis and are usually unresectable.

Small cell lung cancers represent 15-20% of lung cancers 1 and are strongly associated with cigarette smoking.

Clinical presentation can significantly vary and can present in the following ways:

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