A CT scan of a 50-year-old woman with a history of long-term smoking reveals a 2cm mass in the right lung. What are the potential causes, and what are the next steps?
The primary concern for a lung mass in a patient with a long history of smoking is lung cancer. Other differential diagnoses could include a benign tumor, lung abscess, or granuloma. The next step would be to further characterize the mass with a PET scan, which can give more information about the metabolic activity of the mass. Depending on the results, a biopsy may be needed to confirm the diagnosis.