Novel approaches improve outcomes for lung cancer patients

07 Feb, 2024

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Canada, due to its aggressive behavior and tendency to present at an advanced stage. New treatment approaches and surgical techniques, however, are starting to improve the outlook for patients with this diagnosis.

Dr. Andrew Giles, a thoracic surgeon at Queen’s says that approaches to lung cancer care and surgical techniques for lung cancer resection are increasingly complex. “Lung tumour surgery is difficult, and typically involves removing large parts of the lung. Patients are often diagnosed at Stage III or IV in their disease, which means they are less likely to be cured.”

For early-stage lung cancer, new robotic procedures are changing lung cancer surgery by allowing for rapid recovery and more precise tumour removal, known as a lung segmentectomy. Using a camera and robotic arms, smaller anatomic units of the lung containing the cancerous masses are removed, rather than the traditional lobectomy, which removes one of the five lobes of the lung. This is associated with improved long-term survival, and allows patients with compromised lung function to be eligible for curative treatment.

For locally-advanced lung cancer, novel approaches use chemotherapy and immunotherapy given before surgery. This technique has shown great promise in early trials, with one quarter of patients being completely cured of their cancer, even at an advanced stage. Queen’s is among the leading centres in Canada working with this new protocol.

Dr. Giles says that these new techniques are particularly important for the Southeastern Ontario population, but also for global health. “We have the highest rate of lung cancer in Ontario,” he says. “It’s important that we stay at the forefront of technological solutions like these so that we can serve our community and contribute to better care globally.”

Novel approaches improve outcomes for lung cancer patients

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