Lung Cancer - Introduction to the Columbia Presbyterian Thoracic Division

Introduction

The diagnosis and surgical management of benign and malignant lung disease remains the primary focus of the General Thoracic Surgical Service. In the United States lung cancer is the second most common cause of cancer and the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. Improving lung cancer survival remains a major challenge to thoracic surgeons. At Columbia Presbyterian our efforts to improve the treatment of lung cancer involve three strategies.

Early Detection of Lung Cancer

Our first strategy employs early detection. State-of-the-art imaging facilities at Columbia Presbyterian include out patient high-resolution CT-scanning and MRI. The Kreitchman PET Center has the only whole-body PET scanner in the New York Metropolitan region. PET scanning can differentiate benign from malignant lesions and can also detect unsuspected metastases. Under CT-scan guidance, small suspicious lung lesions may either be percutaneously biopsied or excised using minimally invasive techniques.

Multidisciplinary Treatment of Lung Cancer

The second strategy toward lung cancer includes our multidisciplinary approach. Conferences are regularly attended by medical- and radiation-oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and thoracic surgeons. Benefiting from this team approach, patients are offered individualized treatment, which may include preoperative or postoperative multimodality therapy. Such an integrated effort has been shown to improve survival from lung cancer.

Treatment of Advanced Disease

The third approach, unique to Columbia Presbyterian, is the management of patients with lung cancer and advanced obstructive lung disease. Our extensive experience gained from surgery for emphysema has allowed many patients, who previously would have been deemed inoperable, to undergo successful resection of early lung cancer.

Our dedicated team of chest physicians and support staff have contributed to both the rapid growth and excellent results of lung surgery at Columbia Presbyterian.

Careful outcomes analyses enable us to continue to focus our efforts to shorten hospitalization and improve results. For example, a statistical review of our last 200 consecutive lobectomy patients through 1996 has revealed a median length-of-stay of less than 7 days and mortality rate of below one percent.