How can lung cancer be detected?
A. Early detection of lung cancer is difficult. When it first develops, lung cancer usually does not have any symptoms. Sometimes it is discovered when a person has a chest x-ray for another medical reason. Smokers who quit when precancerous changes in their lung cells are discovered often find that the damaged tissue returns to normal. People who continue to smoke may get cancer. Chest x-rays, CT scans (a series of x-ray images assembled by a computer), and other tests are used to diagnose a tumor in the lung. X-rays and CT scans do not show whether tumors are benign or malignant.
