5 Steps In Cancer Diagnosis

1.X-rays are the most common way doctors made pictures of the inside of the body. In a special kind of x-ray imaging, a CT or CAT scan uses a computer linked to an x-ray machine to make a series of detailed pictures.

2. Endoscopy allows the doctor to look into the body through a thin, lighted tube called an endoscope. The exam is named for the organ involved (for example, colonoscopy to look inside the colon). During the exam, the doctor may collect tissue or cells for closer examination

3. Laboratory tests such as blood and urine tests offer the physician significant data. If cancer is submit, the laboratory job can indicate the effects of the disease on the system. In some cases, particular tests are used to evaluate the sum of sure substances in the blood, urine, and new system fluids, or tumor tissue. The levels of these substances may get irregular when sure kinds of cancer are existing.

4. Biopsy is the simply certain manner to recognize whether the trouble is cancer. In a biopsy, the physician removes a sampling of tissue from the irregular region or may withdraw the entire tumor. A pathologist examines the tissue under a microscope. If cancer is submit, the pathologist can normally say what sort of cancer it is and may be capable to evaluate whether the cells are possible to rise slowly or rapidly.

5. When cancer is found, the patient's doctor needs to know the stage, or extent, of the disease to plan the best treatment. The doctor may order various tests and exams to find out whether the cancer has spread and, if so, what parts of the body are affected. In some cases, lymph nodes near the tumor are removed and checked for cancer cells. If cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes, it may mean that the cancer has spread to other organs.