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 Gortyanswered
Radiation Oncology 27 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago

Dr. Mazen Ghanianswered
Radiology 26 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:

Dr. Carlo Hatemanswered
Pulmonary Critical Care 27 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. Andrew Turrisianswered
Radiation Oncology 49 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago

Dr. Mario Matos-Cruzanswered
Thoracic Surgery 41 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Laura Anissiananswered
Internal Medicine 23 years experience
Help: How can we help you? Is it for sure diagnosed? Did the biopsy confirm it? Do you need help with your feelings around this diagnosis? Make sure to addr... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
2.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old male asked:

Dr. Gurmukh Singhanswered
Pathology 51 years experience
Unlikely: How high is the hemoglobin? Do you smoke? If you do, that could explain the elevated Hb. If you do smoke, quit it now. Elevated Hb is not a sign of lu... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
663 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old male asked:

A Verified Doctoranswered
38 years experience
Yes: Needs to go see a physician for work up. It is not normal to have a pleural effusion.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
385 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:

Dr. Jon Spiersanswered
Thoracic Surgery 33 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 24-year-old female asked:

Dr. Ed Friedlanderanswered
Pathology 46 years experience
Yes: Especially, adenocarcinomas in the apex can be very small and hide behind other structures.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old female asked:

Dr. William Walshanswered
Addiction Medicine 19 years experience
Easily: Some cancers do not ever show up on x-ray, others look like pneumonia. A chest ct is often needed.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:

Dr. Loki Skylizardanswered
Thoracic Surgery 22 years experience
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
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old male asked:

Dr. Matthew Solhjemanswered
Radiation Oncology 23 years experience
Possibly.: A chest xray can detect lung cancer if the tumor is large enough and visible.
A chest ct is a better test at 'looking' inside the lung tissue and d... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
People also searched for:
Connect with a U.S. board-certified doctor by text or video anytime, anywhere.
$44 video appointments with $19/month membership*
*Billed $57 every 3 months. Cancel anytime.