The Ireland Cancer Center’s multidisciplinary team of specialists strives to provide all lung cancer patients with state of the art treatment. The team meets weekly to offer Ireland’s patients timely consultation, evaluation, and treatment options.
Depending on the type and stage of the cancer, lung cancer patients may undergo several types of treatment.
Surgery
Surgical removal of lung cancer still remains the patient’s best chance of a cure. The type of surgery depends on the size and location of the tumor, the extent of the cancer, and the general health of the patient. In some situations preoperative chemotherapy and/or radiation may allow for surgical resection of tumors thought to be inoperable. A team of expert lung surgeons makes these complex decisions after thorough evaluation of all therapeutic options.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy can be used as the primary treatment or as an addition to other therapies. Radiation therapy is frequently used in conjunction with surgery, with some patients experiencing long-term survival benefits. New approaches in radiation therapy are providing even more treatment options for patients:
Chemotherapy
Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center are evaluating several new drugs and drug combinations in an effort to improve the outcome of lung cancer patients. For example, the Ireland Cancer Center is conducting trials of multimodality therapies for locally advanced tumors, and new chemotherapeutic agents for patients with metastatic disease.
Multimodality Therapies
New protocols to explore curative strategies in lung cancer include using chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or both before surgery to try to convert some patients from an inoperable stage to one where the tumor can be removed surgically. Preliminary results of this approach are providing optimism about the future of multimodality management of advanced lung cancer.