What are the pulmonary fibrosis foci in the physical examination report? Is it early lung cancer?

With the popularization of health knowledge, more and more people have developed the good habit of regular physical examinations.

When I got the physical examination report, I started to wonder when I saw the pulmonary fibrosis on the chest CT report. When I searched online, all I got were conclusions like "pulmonary fibrosis is early lung cancer" and "pulmonary fibrosis is cancerous". What are the pulmonary fibrosis on the physical examination report? Is it early cancer? With these questions in mind, I will explain the pulmonary fibrosis in detail today.

What are pulmonary fibrosis? Before understanding pulmonary fibrosis, let us first understand the anatomy of the lung, which is very helpful for understanding pulmonary fibrosis.

Humans have five lungs, each of which is composed of pulmonary parenchyma and pulmonary interstitium. The human body exchanges gases with the outside world through the lungs, thereby maintaining a balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen.

Lung parenchyma mainly refers to the collective name for all structures in the respiratory system, including the trachea, bronchi, terminal bronchioles, and alveoli.

The pulmonary interstitium includes the arteries, veins, capillary networks, lymphatic networks, fibrous tendons, etc. inside the lungs. In addition, there are many substances such as mucin.

The lung parenchyma and pulmonary interstitium together make up our lungs. It is through the lungs that the human body exchanges gases with the outside world, thereby maintaining the metabolic balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen.

When the fibroblasts in the pulmonary interstitium are damaged chemically or physically, they secrete a substance called collagen to repair the pulmonary interstitial tissue. Fibrosis occurs in the repaired area, which wraps around the alveoli like "loofah", which is what we call fibrous focus.

Why are there so many pulmonary fibrosis? We live our whole lives and breathe our whole lives, so it is inevitable that our lungs will be "injured" in various ways. Whether it is common pneumonia in adults and children, scar hyperplasia after trauma, or tuberculosis, which was once very common, any kind of damage to the pulmonary interstitium will leave "traces" on our lungs, and these traces will be discovered during physical examination.

Previously, physical examinations were usually performed with chest X-rays or chest radiographs due to technical problems. Since the resolution of these machines was low, many small fibrous lesions were missed, so that most people's reports showed normal results.

With the improvement of detection technology, low-dose spiral CT scans have been well applied in health examinations. With their "eagle eyes", they can effortlessly detect lung fibrosis foci of several millimeters, which were not detectable in the past. This is why the number of fibrous foci has increased.

Is pulmonary fibrosis an early stage of lung cancer? Will it turn malignant? The discovery of pulmonary fibrosis during a physical examination simply means that your lungs have experienced a "big or small war" in the past, and in the end, you were strong enough to overcome the damage from the outside world, and the pulmonary fibrosis is the witness of this "war against the epidemic."

Therefore, pulmonary fibrosis is not something particularly bad, and there is no need to treat it. Just like your skin will always leave a scar after being scratched by a sharp weapon, our pulmonary fibrosis is the "scar" after the lung interstitium heals. It is not early lung cancer and generally will not become malignant.

How to make pulmonary fibrosis disappear Someone always asks me: "Doctor, although you said that pulmonary fibrosis is not a disease, I feel uncomfortable when I see it during a physical examination. Is there any way to make it disappear?"

The answer is “No.”

Because pulmonary fibrosis is the result of the lung's self-repair and reconstruction of the damaged part of the lung, and it is often irreversible, so don't believe in those "secret recipes" that can make fibrosis disappear.

So don’t worry when you see the report during your next physical examination. Just like the wrinkles left on your forehead by time, the fibrous foci are the witnesses of your victory over those injuries.

Summary: Pulmonary fibrosis is not early lung cancer and generally will not become malignant. Just like the wrinkles left on your forehead by the years, pulmonary fibrosis is the witness of your victory over those injuries.