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