diagnosis day #1. the patient o 45 year old male o 170 lbs o 5’11” o complaining of a cough that...

Diagnosis Day #1

The patientO 45 year old maleO 170 lbsO 5’11”O Complaining of a cough that hasn’t

gone away for 4 months

What should we do first?

O Dr. Chase says he’s a good surgeon, and he can operate to find the cause.

O Dr. Taub says it’s probably just allergies, and to prescribe some allergy medicine.

O Dr. Foreman says we should ask the patient questions about his medical history, and listen to his chest.

Pick some questions to ask:

O Any other allergy symptoms? Runny nose, sneezing

O Any other chest pains?O History of smoking?O Fever?

New informationO No sneezing or runny noseO No feverO No sore throatO Has been a regular smoker for over

20 yearsO Abnormal sound in right lung

What now?O Dr. Chase says he thinks it might

be pneumonia

O Dr. Wilson says he thinks it might be lung cancer

O Dr. Adams says she thinks it might be a virus

Normal lungs

Front

Side

What pneumonia might look like

Fluid buildup

What cancer might look like

X-ray of our patient

Dr. Wilson says this is a good sign that it’s lung cancer.

What else can we do to check if it’s cancer?

O Dr. Chase says we should do a biopsy on it now to see what it is.

O Dr. Wilson says we should do a PET scan first to find out if it has spread to other parts of the body

O Dr. Taub says we should do an echocardiogram to see if there is anything wrong with his heart

Cancer tumor on a PET scan

Patient PET scan

Brain lights up

Bladder lights up

What now?

O Dr. Chase says now we need to do the biopsy to try to remove the tumor and find out more about the type of cancer

O Dr. Foreman says we should start the patient on chemotherapy

O Dr. Adams says we should use radiation to treat the cancer

What might cancer cell biopsy look like?

What do we know now?O Patient has lung cancer, but it hasn’t

spreadO It seems to be a slow growing non-

small cell cancerO Surgery and radiation are both good

when the cancer is all in one spot

Questions to answerOWhat was the most significant thing

that contributed to his risk for lung cancer?

OWhat can an x-ray tell us about lungs?OWhat can a PET scan tell us about

cancer?OWhy is a biopsy of the cancer

important even after the patient has been diagnosed?