Lung cancer surgery, screening, treatment, diagnosis

“There is no typical story because when a person is diagnosed with lung cancer today, I don’t know what I’m going to be treating them with in five years. But I very well likely will be treating them in five years — and that’s a new story for lung cancer.”

Karen Reckamp, M.D., M.S., co-director, Lung Cancer and Thoracic Oncology Program

Newest treatments for lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease whose treatments change rapidly. Your team at City of Hope combines leading-edge technologies — like minimally invasive, laparoscopic and robotic surgery — with the latest targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiological advances.

Surgery

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At City of Hope, our experienced thoracic specialists perform advanced procedures not available at other centers — and are among the best when it comes to high-quality, minimally invasive thoracic surgery for lung cancer. Surgery on the lung is delicate, and preserving as much tissue as possible requires both experience and skill. Our surgical team includes highly trained leaders in lung surgery who regularly take on complex cases — including some deemed untreatable at other facilities.

Types of lung cancer surgery

Lobectomy is the removal of an entire lobe of the lung. This is the most common type of surgery to treat lung cancer.
Segmentectomy is the removal of a large segment of a lobe of the lung.
Wedge resection is the removal of a piece of lung (smaller than a segment).
Pneumonectomy is the removal of the entire lung on one side.
Sleeve resection involves removing part of the airway, with or without the lobe of the lung, and sewing the airway back together. This procedure is usually done to avoid removing the entire lung.

Approaches to lung cancer surgery

Lung cancer surgery can be performed in several ways:

Robotic-assisted surgery is also performed through several small incisions. This procedure uses a tiny video camera to view the inside of the chest, as well as robotically controlled instruments that surgeons operate with hand and foot controls.
VATS (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery) is performed through small incisions. Surgeons insert long instruments and a tiny video camera through the incisions, allowing them to perform the same procedures that would be done in a thoracotomy without having to spread the ribs.
Thoracotomy is traditional open surgery, in which a large incision is made in the chest and the ribs are spread in order to reach the lung tissue.

Surgery for lung cancer begins with a conversation about your needs, and continues as a coordinated effort between staff from many different disciplines — from oncologists to pathologists, nurses, radiologists, researchers and support staff — to determine the best treatment for your individual case. Our goal is always finding the most targeted, least invasive way of treating you so that we preserve your lung function and quality of life.

Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy is a treatment that harnesses parts of a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. One way that cancer cells grow out of control is by tricking the immune system so that it does not attack them. Immunotherapy works by helping the body’s immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells. Immunotherapy treatments work in a variety of ways. Some boost the body’s overall immune response, for example. Others work by injecting manmade versions of immune system proteins to attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy drugs have been approved for treating some types of lung cancer. In some cases, these medications work better than conventional chemotherapy.

Meanwhile, the field of immunotherapy is rapidly evolving. Researchers at City of Hope’s Department of Immuno-Oncology are among the scientists working to develop and test new lung cancer immunotherapy treatments.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy begins with understanding the unique biology of an individual’s cancer, then finding the best treatments based on that biology. With targeted therapy, the medical team will choose medications to target the specific gene changes, or mutations, in a particular cancer.

By analyzing the unique genetic makeup of a tumor, our specialists can design more personalized therapies to block cancer growth. Compared to conventional chemotherapy drugs, medications that target specific mutations often have better response rates. In many cases, targeted therapies are also less toxic to healthy cells, which can mean fewer side effects for patients. Learn more about lung cancer targeted therapies.