Smilow’s Thoracic Oncology Program is a leader in treatment of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, such as esophageal cancer, thymoma and chest wall tumors.
As soon as a new thoracic oncology patient’s CT scans, biopsies and other test results are available, Smilow physicians see the patient, review the evidence, discuss the case at the weekly multidisciplinary thoracic tumor board and decide on the best course of treatment based on the collective judgment of the team.
Three factors are raising the bar on outcomes for patients at Smilow. The first is the collaborative team approach, in which the patient’s physician draws upon the collective expertise of the national and international experts at Yale-New Haven. The second is a focus on evidence-based practice in which physicians employ the latest standards of treatment. The third factor comes from continually pushing the forefront through clinical research that is defining better therapy.
Treatment advances have occurred in each area – the majority of surgeries for thoracic cancers are done by minimally invasive techniques, something available at only a minority of institutions nationally. Technology advances in radiotherapy such as 4-dimensional treatment planning are standard at Yale-New Haven, but are not yet available at many academic centers. Finally, the development of newer chemotherapy agents that are more active with fewer side effects are allowing even stage IV cancer patients to often live for years.
While there are still no generally accepted early detection screenings for these cancers, physicians encourage people to drop their fear of esophageal and lung cancers and talk to their doctors about unusual signs or symptoms. Although smoking is not the only risk factor for thoracic cancer, anyone who smokes should seek help if they need it to quit smoking.