Chen Chen (pseudonym), 11 years old this year, is a 6th grade student.
Boy's chest pain
In a physical education class a year ago, Chen Chen accidentally fell down and his chest hit the steps. The chest pain was unbearable, so the teacher immediately contacted the parents and took Chen Chen to the hospital.
After inspection, Chen Chen was not seriously injured. But the parents were worried, so they had another chest CT scan. The abnormal trauma was not found, but they found that Chen Chen had a ground glass nodule of about 5mm in his lungs.
At that time, the doctor said: Lung nodules are very common, and many causes are unknown. For example, Chen Chen, the nodules with very small diameter, can be checked regularly.
After the incident, Chen Chen's chest pain soon became a child, and itchless. Looking at Chen Chen who was jumping around, the parents forgot the lung nodules completely.
However, things have changed unexpectedly this year.
This year, Chen Chen's grandmother found during the annual physical examination that the once inconspicuous lung nodules have turned into a 4cm-sized shadow. It turned out that Chen Chen's grandmother also found lung nodules during her physical examination two years ago. She did not pay attention to the changes in this nodule every year. She did not expect that she suddenly became so big this year.
CT found abnormalities
When the doctor saw that the nodule was 4cm in diameter, and the edges were burrs, and the ground glass-like change. He vaguely felt that this nodule was not a good thing, so he suggested further examination.
I thought that further examination quickly confirmed that this nodule was lung cancer. Fortunately, the discovery was promptly done, and the surrounding lymph nodes did not metastasis. The doctor completely removed the cancerous tissue for Chen Chen's grandmother through minimally invasive surgery, and only regular follow-up examinations were required after the operation.
After an operation, Chen Chen's mother blamed herself. If she had paid attention to this nodule earlier, her mother would not have been punished for surgery and she would have risked cancer metastasis.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen's mother suddenly thought that Chen Chen had also found a lung nodule a year ago, so she quickly showed the film she shot last year to the doctor.
pulmonary nodules
Results As soon as the doctor saw the film, combined with the medical history of Chen Chen's grandmother, the doctor immediately suggested taking Chen Chen for further examination immediately, because nodules like Chen Chen's family, which are family-borne hereditary, are still highly likely to become cancerous. Although Chen Chen is still young, this risk cannot be taken, so it is better to check it in time.
As expected, when further examination for Chen Chen found that Chen Chen's lung nodules had changed. The lung nodules were close to the lung membrane, and the pleura seemed to pull. All signs pointed to the bad result - there is a high possibility of malignancy.
Doctors judge from years of experience that immediate surgery is needed, and the faster the better.
Because there was a distinctive example of Chen Chen's grandmother in front of him, Chen Chen's parents were not depressed at all, and immediately arranged for Chen Chen to undergo surgery. As the doctor expected, the postoperative pathology was early lung adenocarcinoma .
Like my grandmother, due to timely surgery, I only need to have regular follow-up examinations after the operation.
Both relatives did not pay attention to lung nodules, and then discovered lung cancer later. Fortunately, the timely surgery was performed to avoid further deterioration. The family was afraid and felt a little bit of happiness.
Minimally invasive surgery for
So, how could Chen Chen, who is so young, have lung cancer?
In fact, in the eyes of many people, lung cancer is a middle-aged and elderly disease, and may not have anything to do with children. But don’t forget that an important characteristic of lung cancer is family inheritance. Chen Chen's grandmother discovered lung cancer due to lung nodules, while Chen Chen found lung cancer after accidental discovery. It seemed to be irrelevant, but Chen Chen was related to his grandmother. This is heredity, which is the terrible part of lung cancer.
Under normal circumstances, the properties of lung nodules have a lot to do with their size, density and shape.In most cases, the lung nodules found only need regular review, but attention needs to be paid to the following lung nodules:
① The patient is over 55 years old and the diameter of the nodules is greater than or equal to 1cm;
② The lung nodules are not smooth around, with burrs and lobes;
③ The internal shadow density of the nodules is uneven, it is solid nodules or mixed nodules, and the patient smokes for a long time;
④ There is a family history of lung cancer or malignant lung nodules.
For lung nodules with less than 5mmI, a one-year lung CT is required. A 5-8mm lung nodule needs to be reviewed once every six months, while a 8-10mm lung nodule needs to be reviewed once every three months.
lung adenocarcinoma
lung cancer, as the number one cancer with the highest mortality rate, has long been ranked first in the cancer rankings and is recognized as the world's largest cancer. According to , the World Health Organization International Cancer Research Institute, (IARC), , released , the latest global cancer burden data in 2020, , showing that in 2020, 2.2 million new lung cancer patients worldwide, second only to breast cancer , and the mortality rate ranks first, reaching 1.8 million.
In recent years, due to factors of living environment and urban industrialization, the continuous advancement of people's life rhythm, factors such as smoking and drinking, etc., the trend of younger lung cancer has continued to increase, and lung cancer is no longer exclusive to the elderly.
Therefore, after lung nodules are found, they should be reviewed in a timely manner according to the doctor's evaluation suggestions. If the nodules increase significantly in a short period of time, surgical treatment should be carried out in a timely manner.
(For popular science learning only, it is not used as a basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. The pictures are from the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us to delete it. Thank you)
