Differential diagnosis of lung cancer and tuberculosis: review

The neglect of lung cancer and the unsatisfactory results of its treatment depend to a large extent on untimely diagnosis in the early stages of the disease. The reason for this is the absence of pathognomonic clinical signs and a specific radiographic picture of early lung cancer, which has to be differentiated from other respiratory diseases, including those occurring with infiltrative changes. According to statistical data, hyperdiagnosis of infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with oncological diseases of the respiratory system was from 14 to 39%, which leads to long-term monitoring of patients with lung cancer in phthisiological institutions with anti-tuberculosis therapy, which causes delays in the treatment of patients with lung cancer. The pronounced visual similarity of various pathological processes of the lungs, the mixed incidence and immunodeficiency combined with subjective factors, such as gaps in the training of doctors, omissions in the survey method and the lack of continuity, can collectively be the cause of differential diagnostic errors. This article describes the similarities and differences between these diseases, the main causes of erroneous diagnosis, as well as the prospects for the development of modern diagnostic methods.