Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in America for both men and women, far exceeding death rates from breast or prostate cancer. The main risk factor for developing lung cancer is smoking. A patient or physician may suspect lung cancer based on an abnormal chest x-ray, a persistent cough, pneumonia, or weight loss. Complete work up usually requires a CT (cat) scan, and often a needle-guided biopsy. Unfortunately, most cancers are already incurable at the time of diagnosis.

If a patient's cancer appears curable by surgery, he/she will be referred to a thoracic surgeon. To confirm that a cancer is curable, mediastinoscopy is often performed to make sure no cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, and bronchoscopy is used to make sure there is no spread into the larger airways. These two procedures are minimally invasive techniques which utilize telescopic cameras, but usually require full anesthesia. If the cancer still appears curable, then the area of lung affected by cancer is removed. Usually only one third to one half of a lung requires removal, but sometimes removal of an entire lung is necessary. Prior to such major surgery, the lung function of each patient is checked to make sure that lung removal can be tolerated.

Surgery for lung cancer requires a thoracotomy incision (between two ribs) as well as placement of chest drainage tubes. Patients should expect to require approximately one week of hospitalization. The thoracic surgeon works closely with an oncologist (a cancer doctor), because many patients with lung cancer receive chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy as part of their treatment plan.

Related Topics on the chest:

Lung Cancer
Non-Cancerous Lung Lesions
Esophageal Abnormalities