Specialized Treatment
Treatment options for lung cancer patients are getting better every day – there are more options now than ever before. Mount Carmel offers genetic testing of your tumor to determine which treatments will work for you, as well as access to clinical trials (voluntary participation in research studies). Your lung care team will work with you to treat your cancer aggressively and compassionately.
For more information about cancer care at Mount Carmel, please call 614-546-HOPE.
Treatment for lung cancers may include:
Surgery – Surgery is the preferred treatment for early stage non small cell lung cancer. Whether or not you are a candidate for surgery is determined by the size of the tumor, the tumor's location, whether or not the disease has spread and your overall health at the time of diagnosis.
- VATS - A VATS (Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery) procedure enables your surgeon to see inside your chest cavity using a small camera inserted through very small incisions and to remove lung masses. Surgery is the preferred treatment if you have early stage, non-small-cell lung cancer. This procedure is uses general anesthesia and requires a hospital stay of 3-5 days.
- Thoracotomy - When a tumor cannot be reached via bronchoscopy, surgery can be the only way to remove a sample. During surgery, as much of of the tumor as possible is removed and sent to the lab for analysis. A thoracotomy is a major surgical procedure that requires several days in the hospital and weeks or months of recovery.
Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy – For patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancers, small-cell lung cancer or who are not candidates for surgery, chemotherapy and radiation can be used to shrink tumors, relieve symptoms and, in some cases, even provide a cure.
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy – For patients in advanced disease stages or who require an alternative to surgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy provides some patients an additional treatment option. Stereotactic radiosurgery systems like the CyberKnife® can offer effective treatment of lung tumors while carrying a low risk of side effects. CyberKnife treatment is completed in five or fewer outpatient procedures and does not involve surgery or sedation. During treatment, high doses of radiation are delivered to lung tumors with pinpoint precision, which minimizes radiation exposure to healthy tissue surrounding a tumor. There are ongoing studies to determine tong-term effectiveness, but the early results have been promising, feasible and safe. Columbus CyberKnife, a service of Mount Carmel, offers the only CyberKnife treatment program available in the Columbus area.