Surgery is often the most effective treatment for early-stage lung cancers. It’s also an important tool to see if cancer has spread beyond the lungs. Doctors sometimes recommend lung cancer surgery to remove tumors that chemotherapy and radiation treatment have successfully shrunk.
At Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, our lung cancer surgery team provides excellent outcomes—even after complex procedures. Our patients experience shorter, less painful recoveries, along with care from a world-class team who treats you like family.
Lung Cancer Surgery: Why Choose Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health?
To ensure your treatment considers every part of your health and wishes, our thoracic (lung and chest) oncology surgeon works closely with experienced specialists in pulmonary medicine (focuses on the respiratory system) and medical and radiation oncology. This approach allows us to better tailor your care and explore all possible treatment options. You also benefit from:
- Comprehensive surgical options: We have the expertise and technology to perform the full range of lung cancer surgeries, including lobectomies and highly complex procedures like chest wall reconstructions. You don’t have to travel far from home for the best treatment options.
- Excellent outcomes: You can count on a smooth experience when getting a lung resection or other lung cancer surgery at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. We offer some of the best outcomes in the U.S., with extremely low readmission and complication rates.
- Minimally invasive surgery: We perform most lung cancer surgeries robotically. This method allows for smaller incisions, less pain, and faster, easier recoveries. Learn more about robotic surgery for lung cancer at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health.
- Team approach: If surgery is a potential treatment option for you, our multidisciplinary lung cancer team discusses your case at our weekly Lung Tumor Board. This team includes nearly a dozen lung cancer specialists in surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology and more. We also invite your primary care doctor to join. During these meetings, these experts review your health history, diagnostic materials (such as X-rays and biopsies) and other important information (like your lifestyle and preferences). Together, they determine the best treatment plan for you. Meet our lung cancer team.
- World-class care close to home: At the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, your care includes the latest lung cancer advances, including access to clinical trials, top-notch expertise and advanced technology—right in your backyard. You receive some of the best care available in the world without the travel and surrounded by your loved ones and medical staff who consider you family.
Thoracic ERAS Lead to Less Painful Lung Cancer Surgery Recoveries
Thoracic surgeries are traditionally among the most painful. But our rigorous pain management protocols have dramatically improved lung cancer surgery recoveries.
Called thoracic ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery), it involves:
- Patient education
- Non-narcotic medication before surgery to quiet down nerve activity and its resulting pain
- Care from nurses specially trained in pain assessment and management
Our thoracic ERAS protocols mean our patients experience shorter hospital stays, along with easier and less painful lung cancer surgery recoveries.
How We Treat Lung Cancer With Surgery
We can treat most people using advanced minimally invasive techniques, including robotic-assisted approaches. These techniques allow for:
- Better outcomes
- Faster healing
- Reduced need for pain medication
- Smaller incisions
Depending on your diagnosis, your thoracic oncology surgeon may recommend:
- Lung resection (segmental or wedge resection): Removal of a small part of the lung
- Sleeve resection: Removal of a piece of bronchus (air passage) and reattachment of the lung to the remaining air passage
- Sublobar resection: Removal of part of a lobe (sections that make up the lungs) of the lung
- Lobectomy: Removal of a lobe of the lung
- Pneumonectomy: Removal of an entire lung
Lung cancer lymph node resections
To determine if lung cancer has spread, doctors often perform a lymph node resection to check nearby lymph nodes for signs of cancer. Lymph nodes throughout your entire body act as the body’s filters. Lung cancer usually first spreads to the lymph nodes near your lungs.
Accurate lung cancer staging (determining how much a cancer has spread) is important because different stages of cancer require different treatments. The stage of the cancer also has a big influence on your prognosis (outlook).
Removing around 10 lymph nodes is considered the gold standard to adequately stage lung cancer. But in Pennsylvania, less than half of patients who undergo thoracic surgeries have the minimum number of lymph nodes removed. At Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, that number increases to 90 percent. Our patients are among the most thoroughly staged in the area, which ensures more accurate diagnoses and better outcomes.