Other diagnostics

If your doctor feels that he needs a larger sample of a tumor or that he wants to remove an entire tumor, he will suggest surgery. In a thoracotomy he operates on your chest cavity, and in a laparotomy he operates on your abdominal area.

A bronchoscopy may be needed if your doctor thinks you have pleural mesothelioma (see What to look for). In this procedure, he inserts a flexible lighted tube into your mouth and extends it down through your trachea and into your lungs to check for masses in the airway. He may even remove small samples of abnormal-looking tissue.

In a mediastinoscopy the doctor inserts a lighted tube under your sternum and down into your chest in order to view your lymph nodes. Because mesothelioma seldom moves to the lymph nodes, this procedure helps your doctor determine whether your cancer is actually mesothelioma or some other form of lung cancer.