Professional Capstone Project - Essay Example

To address this issue further clinical trials are essential and preventive health strategies addressing the established causative agents should be implemented. Lung cancer often results from the abnormal growth of the cells lining the passageway of the lungs. They can be dangerous as they can spread and invade other tissues of the body. Because of this it is one of the most common causes of cancer death worldwide. The disease has a very low prognosis, with less than 15% of the diagnosed patients surviving 5 years after diagnosis.

The clinical signs and symptoms are often vague and non-specific Radiologic tests such as x-ray and CT scan often provides the usual indication of lung cancer. PET scan has been shown to be important in cancer staging. The role of diagnosis on the staging, treatment and management of lung cancer cannot be overemphasized, thus it is essential to understand the contributions and limitations of each diagnostic procedure. The signs and symptoms of lung cancer are often covert or if not, they mimic other respiratory infections.

Radiologic techniques, especially X-ray and CT (computerized axial tomography) scan are the most preferred techniques for initial diagnosis, and yet both offer some advantages and drawbacks. X-ray could not determine small tumors, if detected the patient may be in the late stages thus making treatment more difficult and even impossible. CT scan is more sensitive, having the ability to determine even the smaller tumors and yet lacks the ability to resolve whether the tumor is benign or just an inflammation as a result of respiratory infection.

Furthermore, CT scan has not reduced the mortality rate of lung cancer. Furthermore, CAT scans have not decreased the incidence of the disease (Spiro, 2007). Proper screening and diagnosis of any type of cancer is important in the staging and treatment.