The routine imaging work-up of suspected lung cancer should include posteroanterior and lateral chest radiographs and, in most cases, a computed tomographic (CT) scan of the entire thorax and adrenal glands. In asymptomatic patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung, there is justification for doing routine contrast-enhanced CT examination of the brain. Further imaging workup will be suggested by the patient's history, physical findings, and laboratory findings. Magnetic resonance imaging of the chest in patients with lung cancer is being investigated, but current studies comparing it with CT demonstrate no definite advantage at this time, with the possible exception of the lung apex in which T1 weighted thin-section coronal views are useful.
