Lung cancer: Personalized care

During this procedure, either a CT scan or an ultrasound takes an image of your lungs. This image helps your doctor find suspected cancer cells. These cells are removed with a long, thin needle for testing.

This test helps your doctor determine if your cancer has spread. During this test, a scope is guided through your mouth and into your windpipe. The scope takes images of your lymph nodes and other parts of your body in and around your lungs.

This surgical procedure can determine the stage of your cancer. During a mediastinoscopy, your surgeon makes a small incision below your neck. A scope is inserted into the incision to reach the area behind your breastbone. Your surgeon uses the scope to move surgical tools to collect lymph node tissue for testing.

This test is a minimally invasive way for doctors to view and biopsy suspicious lung tissue. During a robotic assisted navigational bronchoscopy, an ultrathin catheter passes through your airway to the area of abnormal lung tissue where your doctor can collect tissue for biopsy and testing.

Medication treatments for lung cancer include chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Chemotherapy kills cancer cells. Targeted therapy makes cancer cells grow more slowly. We also offer the latest advances in immunotherapy — medication treatment that uses your immune system to fight your cancer and have improve the outcome for many patients with lung cancer.

Radiation therapy kills cancer cells with radiation. Tomotherapy, developed here at the UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center, is one type of radiation therapy for lung cancer. Tomotherapy works by creating a 3D image of your tumor. Doctors use the image to deliver radiation directly to your cancer. As a result, there is less damage to your healthy tissue.

MRI-guided radiation therapy is another radiation therapy used at the UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center. This is one of the most recent technology advancements in radiation oncology, using a unique combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and radiotherapy technologies.

With this MRI-guided radiation therapy, physicians have greater control over the daily radiation prescriptions because they are able to see the patient's internal anatomy and adapt to movements that could occur during the actual treatment delivery.

For some people with lung cancer, surgery is the best treatment. There are three main types of lung cancer surgery:

• Wedge resection: Removal of a small part or “wedge” of the lung

• Lobectomy: Removal of an entire lobe or a portion of the lung

• Pneumonectomy: Removal of the whole lung

Whenever possible, we offer minimally invasive surgery. With minimally invasive surgery, your incisions are smaller and you recover faster.

Robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) is one type of minimally invasive surgery. During this procedure, your surgeon makes small incisions between your ribs. They then insert a 3D camera and small robotic instruments into your chest cavity in order to remove a part of your lung.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy is another type of minimally invasive surgery. During this procedure, your surgeon makes a small incision between your ribs. They then insert a camera, giving them a view of your chest cavity. Your surgeon makes another small incision used to guide surgical tools and remove part of your lung.

The UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center offers a combined surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment for lung cancer. This treatment is called VATS wedge resection with brachytherapy. This treatment combines minimally invasive surgery with a special type of radiation treatment.

Another unique combination therapy offered at the UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center is photodynamic therapy (PDT). During this two-step treatment, you receive a special light-activated drug. The drug moves to your cancer cells and stays there. Your doctor then uses a tube called a bronchoscope to position a laser near your cancer. The light from the laser is absorbed by the drug within your cancer cells, causing them to die.

Some patients benefit from experimental treatments for cancer. Experimental treatments are offered through clinical trials. At the UW Carbone Cancer Center, patients have access to more than 250 cancer clinical trials. For lung cancer alone, we offer more than 60 trials of new medications and therapies.

The Lung Cancer Support Group, offered through Gilda’s Club, is for anyone affected by lung cancer. The group meets the second Thursday of each month at:

Gilda’s Club
7908 UW Health Court
Middleton, WI 53562

For more information, call (608) 828-8880

Smoking is a leading cause of lung cancer. The University of Wisconsin is home to the nationally recognized Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI). Tobacco research from UW-CTRI is translated into treatment for people who want to quit smoking.

Learn more about UW-CTRI