Top answers from doctors based on your search:
can you see lung cancer on an x ray
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sri Gorty answered
25 years experience Radiation Oncology
Yes and no: Chest x-rays are good tools for screening for lung cancers. If the nodule is large enough, it can be seen on a chest x-ray. However not all nodules a ... Read More
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Dr. Mazen Ghani answered
24 years experience Radiology
Maybe: It depends on the size and location of the lung cancer.
Small cancers (less than 1 cm) may be difficult to identify with chest radiographs.
Ct s ... Read More
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A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Carlo Hatem answered
25 years experience Pulmonary Critical Care
Weeks to months: There is no hard and fast rule. In studies that tried to detect lung cancer early using a chest x-ray, almost half of the cancers appeared within a ye ... Read More
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Dr. Andrew Turrisi answered
47 years experience Radiation Oncology
Appearance versus: Initiation time of small cell lung cancer. Many will assert that they can tell by "doubling time" the non-small cell types. I find this speculative ... Read More
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Dr. Mario Matos-Cruz answered
39 years experience Thoracic Surgery
Unknown: The best screening test for high risk patients 50y/o or older is a low dose cat scan thorax. Traditional x-rays are likely to miss early lung cancers. ... Read More
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A 45-year-old male asked:
A Verified Doctor answered
A US doctor answered Learn more
Ask surgeons....: Having pleural effusion one year after VATS labectomy for lung cancer naturally leads one to consider cancerous recurrence - alarming & worrisome. ... Read More
Dr. Robert Dorsey answered
36 years experience Wound care
Yes: Needs to go see a physician for work up. It is not normal to have a pleural effusion.
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A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Jon Spiers answered
31 years experience Thoracic Surgery
It varies: It can be a mass, or unusual calcifications, or an unusual "infiltrate" on a chest x-ray. In other words, it can have many different appearances. A ... Read More
A 24-year-old female asked:
Dr. Ed Friedlander answered
44 years experience Pathology
Yes: Especially, adenocarcinomas in the apex can be very small and hide behind other structures.
A 30-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Walsh answered
17 years experience Addiction Medicine
Easily: Some cancers do not ever show up on x-ray, others look like pneumonia. A chest ct is often needed.
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A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Loki Skylizard answered
20 years experience Thoracic Surgery
NO: The x-ray may be one of the first studies ordered. But, plain film radiograph (x-ray) does not rule out cancer. Ultimately, the majority of abnormalit ... Read More
A 35-year-old male asked:
Dr. Carlos Encarnacion answered
35 years experience Medical Oncology
Hmm: May show on a chest x ray but usually not if very early (remember x rays are not good screening tests for lung cancer). Less likely to show in lab wor ... Read More
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A 43-year-old male asked:
Dr. Michael Gabor answered
33 years experience Diagnostic Radiology
The sensitivity: of a chest xray for detecting lung cancer ranges from about 40-80% according to various studies. A chest xray is a 2D representation of a 3D structur ... Read More
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A 33-year-old male asked:
Dr. Stuart Hickerson answered
32 years experience Family Medicine
SOB: Typically tumors that are larger are more likely to cause SOB. However, SOB caused by the tumor is usually secondary to problems with the tumor- PE, ... Read More
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