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Lung Cancer Clinic
Each year more than 200,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer. However, despite the serious nature of lung cancer, the prognosis for beating it is much better than it was even five years ago, thanks to early detection efforts and new treatment strategies.
Esophageal Cancer Clinic
Esophageal cancer accounts for more than 16,000 new cases each year. Thanks to improved treatments and early intervention, the survival rates for esophageal cancer have improved greatly since the 1960s when only a small percentage of people with the disease survived more than five years.
Mesothelioma Clinic
Most mesotheliomas begin in the chest cavity. Though fairly rare, there are still about 2,000 to 3,000 new cases each year, primarily in men over 65. Early detection and intervention by doctors at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute's thoracic program is essential in treating the disease.
Lung Nodule Clinic
The presence of lung nodules does not automatically signal that you have cancer. Benign nodules can actually be quite common. To ensure that the nodules aren't cancerous, doctors at FHCI will monitor changes in size, shape or appearance through regular tests.
Uncommon Malignancies Clinic
Rare forms of cancer include carcinoid tumors, mediastinal tumors and thymoma. Each of these presents unique challenges that doctors at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute address with a broad range of traditional and leading edge treatment strategies.
Who We Are
Tarek Mekhail, MD
Learn more about the role of the medical oncologist in the treatment of thoracic cancer.
Sigfredo Aldarondo, MD
Learn more about the role of the pulmonologist in the treatment of thoracic cancer.
Treatment Options Available at the FHCI's Lung Cancer Clinic
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Send to friendThe Florida Hospital Cancer Institute’s team of world-renowned lung cancer physicians can deploy a wide range of treatments to tackle lung cancer on multiple fronts. In addition to traditional and leading edge therapies, the FHCI is also very involved in clinical trials which offer you groundbreaking therapies that aren’t yet available to the general public and may not be for years to come.
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment
The course of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer depends largely on the stage of the disease at the time it is diagnoses. Treatment is decided by a multdisciplinary team approach by the many specialists at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute, including pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists. Often more than one form of treatment is needed to fight lung cancer.
Surgery
Four types of surgery can be employed to remove cancerous regions. Specialists at the FHCI will go over their recommendations with you before surgery is performed.
- Wedge resection: Surgery is performed to remove the tumor and some of the surrounding normal tissue. When a slightly larger amount of tissue needs to be removed, it is known as a segmental resection.
- Lobectomy: This procedure removes a whole section (lobe) of the lung.
- Pneumonectomy: Performed to remove one whole lung.
- Sleeve resection: Surgery to remove part of the bronchus, one of the two large tubes that connect the lungs to the trachea.
Seeking Thoracic cancer treatment? Contact us now to schedule an appointment with Florida Hospital Cancer Institute.
Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS)
Advances in surgery have led to new methods for performing precise procedures that are minimally invasive. These new techniques offer patients much faster recovery times, far less pain and a reduced risk of complications compared to traditional open surgery.
MIS procedures available at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute include:
- VATS Lobectomy: Until recently, thoracic surgeries that involved lung resection were performed using open surgery techniques which required making an incision 8 to 10 inches long and a hospital stay of five to seven days. Using Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS), surgeons at FHCI make two to four small incisions instead so cameras and instruments can be inserted into the thoracic cavity to facilitate removal of the lobe of the lung. Since there’s no need to spread the ribs or make large incisions, patients experience greater post-operative mobility, reduced need for pain management drugs, and a lower risk of complications, such as infections. The usual post-operative stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is also shorter or not even necessary. In addition, patients are able to start additional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation sooner.
Seeking Thoracic cancer treatment? Contact us now to schedule an appointment with Florida Hospital Cancer Institute.
Radiation Therapy
Our team offers you a comprehensive array of state-of-the-art radiation therapy options that are delivered by board-certified radiation oncologists who utilize the most sophisticated technology available to localize and treat lung cancer. While radiation may be used alone in some cases, it is more often used in conjuction with chemotherapy or surgery. The specialists at FHCI will work together to determine which therapy is appropriate, as well as the timing of the treatments.
These technologies include:
- Trilogy: This image guided radiation therapy allows radiation oncologists to select the most appropriate treatment for lung cancer. The full spectrum of treatments is available in one machine, allowing the oncologist to pinpoint the tumor position precisely, since it can move several centimeters during normal breathing. Built-in computer-assisted robotic positioning can also tell if the tumor has moved since the last treatment.
- Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT): IGRT is the most advanced form of radiation therapy available today. With it, doctors can precisely locate and visualize the tumor before each dose is administered. Information gained from radiographic, fluoroscopic or cone beam CT images allow the radiation oncologist to continuously adapt treatment to ensure that the tumor receives optimal doses while minimizing the radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy: Thanks to advanced positioning technologies, this procedure allows the lesion to be precisely aligned so that high doses of radiation can be administered accurately in one to five treatments. This is a vast improvement over the former method, which required many sessions using smaller doses.
- External Beam Radiation Therapy: High doses of radiation from an external source are targeted to the affected cancer site, minimizing collateral damage to the surrounding, non-cancerous tissue.
- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): Combining the highest level of patient comfort with fewer side effects than normal radiation therapy, IMRT is a highly accurate instrument that spares normal tissue, provides superior dose distributions to the cancerous area and can treat tumors located near critical structures.
- Three-dimensional Simulation and Treatment Planning: 3D imaging is used to visualize the target area and map critical structures so an optimal treatment plan can be designed for the patient.
- Multi-modality Image Fusion: Accurate information is essential to effective treatment. This computerized planning technique incorporates the anatomical data from different imaging methods (CT, MRI, PET, etc.) so doctors at FHCI have access to as much information as possible.
- Endobronchial HDR (High Dose Radiation): Used in the bronchial tree to reduce or remove and obstruction caused by a tumor, Endobronchial HDR delivers highly targeted, high doses of radiation to the region
Seeking Thoracic cancer treatment? Contact us now to schedule an appointment with Florida Hospital Cancer Institute.
Chemotherapy
The cancer treatment experts at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute's Lung Cancer Clinic may recommend chemotherapy, either alone or in concert with radiation therapy and/or surgery.
Chemotherapy relies on a carefully controlled dose of drugs designed to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing them outright or by stopping them from dividing. Administered orally or injected directly into a vein, the drugs use the bloodstream to reach the cancer. This is known as systemic chemotherapy.
The method used and the chemotherapy regimen chosen depends on the type and stage of the cancer that needs to be treated. Experts at the FHCI Lung Cancer Clinic may recommend chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor or in some cases after surgery to stop the growth of any cancer cells that may remain. You doctor will review all the strategies with you and answer all your questions before any treatment begins so you can make informed decisions about your own treatment.
Seeking Thoracic cancer treatment? Contact us now to schedule an appointment with Florida Hospital Cancer Institute.
Promising New Treatments Through Clinical Trials
In many cases, the cancer experts at the FHCI may recommend participation in clinical trials. As one of the leading medical research facilities in the country, the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute has access to some of the most promising clinical trials for lung cancer.
These new treatments and advanced technologies offer you the following benefits:
- Being among the first to possibly benefit from new medical advances coming out of some of the best research labs in the world.
- Access to state-of-the-art treatment.
- Dedicated attention from a research nurse who will be by your side throughout your treatment, follow-ups and care associated with your clinical trial.
- Making a contribution to researcher efforts to find more effective ways to detect, diagnose and treat cancer.
The FHCI works closely with such leading organizations at the National Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, the UCLA Community Oncology Research Network and well-known pharmaceutical companies to conduct innovative clinical trials.
Current Lung Cancer Clinical Trails at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute
