Diagnosis & Treatment
Lung Cancer Screening
Many people with lung cancer symptoms are already in the advanced stages of the illness by the time they are diagnosed. Detecting lung cancer before it causes symptoms may help you beat the disease by finding and treating it earlier. Our American College of Radiology Designated Lung Cancer Screening Center can help detect lung cancers at their earliest, most treatable stages using low-dose CT scanning. The use of this screening test is similar to the use of mammograms to detect breast cancer or colonoscopies to detect colon cancer. You may qualify for lung cancer screening if you:
- Are 50 to 80 years old
- Have a history of heavy smoking (such as smoking two packs a day for 10 years or one pack a day for 20 years)
- Are a current smoker or have quit within the last 15 years
- Have no prior history of lung cancer
How We Care For People with Lung Cancer
Our lung cancer experts begin by making an accurate diagnosis and then match you with the treatments that are shown to be most effective for the type, stage, and biology of your cancer.
Advanced interventional techniques. We use endobronchial ultrasound to identify and biopsy central lymph nodes in the chest to see if they contain cancer cells. Guided by real-time medical imaging, these procedures provide doctors with better access to tissues that will be analyzed for cancer cells, making it easier to reach even the smallest tumors deep inside the lungs.
PET/CT imaging. We offer positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanning to stage your cancer, identify the extent of disease, and monitor your cancer during and after your treatment.
Precision medicine. Through our collaboration with the Columbia University Center for Precision Medicine and Genomics, we perform a comprehensive analysis of your lung tumor to look for genetic mutations and discover your cancer's unique "fingerprint." The information we learn can help us choose therapies that target the molecules driving the growth of your cancer. These are oral medications that you can take by mouth at home. This precision medicine approach is revolutionizing the care of people with all types of cancer.
Minimally invasive lung cancer surgery. Many patients can have lung cancer surgery using a minimally invasive approach called "video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery" (VATS) to remove the affected lobe of the lung. Patients who have VATS typically experience a shorter hospital stay, more rapid improvement of breathing function, and less postoperative discomfort than those who have open surgery. Patients who need more complex lung surgery or intensive perioperative care can undergo these procedures at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia.
Chemotherapy and immunotherapy. You may receive chemotherapy alone or in combination with other therapies such as radiation and surgery to treat your lung cancer.
Some patients benefit from immunotherapy treatments, which harness the power of the immune system to fight lung cancer. We give intravenous chemotherapy and immunotherapy in our relaxing Infusion Center, where we can monitor your side effects and address your comfort.
Radiation therapy. Our radiation oncologists use stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to deliver pinpoint radiation to lung cancers while reducing radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue. We also offer intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), and use radiation in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy when clinically indicated.
Smoking cessation. If you smoke cigarettes or use other forms of tobacco, we can help you quit. Doing so can reduce your chance of experiencing another cancer in the future, decrease the side effects of treatment, and improve your body's ability to heal.