San José, Costa Rica. August, 2015.

When it is about cancer, a medical opinion on time is key to saving lives. The Clínica Bíblica Hospital now has a new Ultrasound (Endobronchial Ultrasound, EBUS), which allows performing early diagnoses and studying other kinds of tumors that affect the thorax.

Doctors Luis Ugalde Gamboa and José Rafael Rojas Solano, specialists in Pneumology of the Clínica Bíblica Hospital, indicated that this equipment allows the detailed exploration of lesions inside and outside the airways, the diagnosis and staging of tumors and the detection of malignant and benign lesions in the trachea and bronchi.

In the short term, it is possible to categorize the patients and shorten the time of the diagnosis. This way, the most adequate treatment will be selected in accordance with the specific situation of the patient, if the possibility of healing exists, who that there are better probabilities and quality of life.

“For the country, this implies an optimization in the direction of treatment cost for the patient, which means better investment and savings in such a costly field as Oncological Pneumology. Bringing this kind of technology to a developing country such as Costa Rica is a great opportunity to benefit hundreds of people, detect lung cancer in earlier stages and the correct staging of the same, as well as offering better treatment,” indicated Dr. Ugalde.

Advantages of the EBUS

In the last 20 years, endoscopic ultrasound methods have been developed, which have provided important results for pneumologists. As soon as the technical problems regarding the application of US in spaces that contained air were resolved, the EBUS became a valuable technique, which allowed analyzing the delicate multi-layer structure of the trachea-bronchial wall and the pulmonary periphery.

“This knowledge became decisive in the treatment of early cancer of the central airways. Those lesions can be submitted to local treatments instead of surgical intervention if the bronchial cartilage is intact and if the adjacent lymphatic glands are not implied. It was proven that the EBUS was valuable, also, for the staging of more advanced lung cancer,” added Dr. Ugalde.

The endobronchial ultrasound is also used as a method to guide the puncture with needle since some time ago and it has been recommended for pre-surgical staging.

Lung Cancer

Survival of lung cancer in Costa Rica is low. This disease represents the third cause of death for malignant tumors in men and the fourth in women. In 2012 for example, lung cancer took the life of 289 persons in our country.

Generally, the symptoms of lung cancer appear when this one is an advanced stage and are usually confused with other diseases. Among the signs of this disease the following stand out: constant cough, chest pain and whistling, breathing difficulties, blood when coughing, and recurrent pneumonia or bronchitis. Hoarseness and loss of weight and appetite also stand out.    

“Our country, although it shows health indicators comparable to those of developed countries, has an economy far from this. For this reason, the need to analyze the way to face lung cancer arises. Health services, as well as good will, are very costly and it is necessary to direct the resources not only to the most inexpensive option, but to the one that in the long term will signify an important impact on the quality of life and attention to the patients, which will consequently come to generate savings with regard to other attention models,” added Dr. Ugalde.

The consumption of tobacco continues to be the main cause of lung cancer. The risk of suffering this disease is more than 11 times higher for a current smoker than for a non-smoker. That is why, in the framework of the celebration of the World Day without Tobacco, the Costa Rican Oncology Institute (ICOT), calls on the population to create awareness of the importance of a timely diagnosis.

83% of all the lung cancer cases appear in people who smoke. Nearly 90% of the respiratory and lung diseases (chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma) and 30% of cardiovascular diseases are attributed to the consumption of tobacco.

Smoking also produces other chronic diseases and increases the risk of suffering respiratory complications; among them, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (EPOC), periphery arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), cardiovascular diseases and other types of cancer, among them, gastric, oral, pharyngeal, among others.

Precisely, the reduction of the consumption of this addictive product has become one of the objectives and goals of the health systems and the Costa Rican one is no exception. It is anticipated that by the year 2020, tobacco will cause around 400,000 deaths per year around the world.

In the world, one out of every ten deaths in adults is related with some disease caused by tobacco. This is equivalent to more than five million people per year and one million of these are in Latin America.

The best way to reduce the probabilities of a lung tumor is to take preventive actions before factors that can be controlled such as: avoid smoking and the exposure to tobacco smoke or to various chemicals; eat healthy – with fruits and vegetables – and practice exercise.