Questions and Answers About Lung Transplantation
Hi, I’m Sudish Murthy and I’m one of the staff thoracic and cardiovascular surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic.
Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Early diagnosis of lung cancer is critical because early stage lung cancer is far more treatable than advanced stage lung cancer. Risks for lung cancer include cigarette smoking, either primary or by second-hand exposure to smoke. Unfortunately, women appear to be slightly more sensitive to the effects of cigarette smoking in terms of causing lung cancer.
Early diagnosis is often made with a high resolution chest CT scan. These scans are recommended for screening patients who are at high risk for developing lung cancers, namely people over age 50 who were formerly heavy smokers or people who are current heavy smokers.
The treatment of lung cancer includes a multidisciplinary team involving medical oncologists, radiation therapists, pulmonary medicine specialists, and thoracic surgeons. The treatment of early stage lung cancer is primarily surgical. For Stage I (early) lung cancers, often limited video-assisted techniques are used which effectively treat lung cancers and expedite patient recovery. For more advanced lung cancer, other treatments including radiation and chemotherapy are often given in combination with surgery to provide the most benefit for patients.
The most important thing regarding lung cancer is smoking cessation, and to that end the Cleveland Clinic offers counseling and an organized smoking cessation program for patients. I hope you find this information useful, and I thank you for your attention.
Reviewed: 04/11
This information is provided by Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace
the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider.
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