home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- • Mediastinoscopy with biopsies. In this procedure, a small incision is made at the base of the neck and a long
- thin tube called a mediastinoscope is inserted down to the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest. Tissue can
- be obtained through this instrument, and the procedure is safe and easy.
- • Needle aspiration of a mass in the chest, often with CT guidance.
- • Removal and analysis of fluid in the chest to detect tumor cells .
- • Pleural (chest lining) biopsy .
- • Lymph node biopsy.
- • Bone biopsy.
- • Liver biopsy.
- • Biopsy of a nodule during surgery.
- • DNA analysis. With the advent of genetic probe studies, certain genes appear to be more frequent in patients
- who develop lung cancer. Patients with amplification of the k-ras oncogene, for example, have a much worse
- prognosis . There may come a time when we can have our genes analyzed and be made aware of our risks, not
- only for lung cancer but for other cancers as well.
-