Article and Video CATEGORIES

Cancer Journey

Search By

The Surgical Decision: Assessing and Discussing the Patient's Options
Tue, 03/22/2016 - 06:00
Author
GRACE Videos and Articles
 

Dr. David Harpole, Duke University Medical Center, describes how he assists patients with the surgical decision-making process.

 

 

Transcript

As a thoracic surgeon, we are the physicians that a lot of patients come to with lung cancer. Unfortunately, the outcomes for lung cancer have not been great, and I would say that there are some physicians that are surgeons where the patients come to them and are wary and don’t want surgery. It’s pretty much the opposite in lung cancer, most patients know that if we’re able to take the tumor out, that’s their best chance for survival.

So the first thing I do when patients come to us is reassure them that we need to adequately assess their strength and so forth for surgery, detail the extent of their disease which often involves not just surgeons but a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist and an interventional pulmonologist in our practice. We discuss the fact that lung cancer is not treated with any one hammer — I usually say I use two or three different hammers depending on which modality we’re going to take on. Then at the location of their mass, we’ll take pictures from their CT scan and show it to them and discuss what are the surgical options, whether it’s something small that we can do with video-assisted techniques, or is it something that’s going to require quite a bit larger operation, then we discuss those with them.

I have a rule in my practice that I never let a patient decide on their care the very first visit that we have. We always want them and their family to spend time thinking about it, read the materials, then they come back and we decide on the best course of treatment. It’s an awful lot that comes at you when you’ve had the diagnosis of lung cancer and I feel like a judicious, slow approach is the thing that most patients appreciate from their physicians.

Video Language

Next Previous link

Previous PostNext Post

Related Content

Image
Mandarin LCVL
Video
王林医生用普通话讨论重要的肺癌信息。这些信息包括靶向治疗、晚期疾病的症状、循环肿瘤 DNA、治疗方案等。我们鼓励您与社区中说普通话的人分享。 Dr. Lin Wang discusses important lung cancer information in Mandarin. This information includes targeted therapy, symptoms of advanced disease, circulating tumor DNA, treatment options, and more. We encourage you to share this with the Mandarin speakers in your community. To watch the complete Playlist visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWsyUmdjLXhGnSxobmz4CBP3pxAj7nDa…;  
Image
Tell your story!  Apply now for the Clinical Trials Experiences through Storytelling Program
Article
We are excited to launch our third year of this program; tell your story and help us help others! Apply Online Now!     GRACE Patient Perspectives: Clinical Trials Experiences Storytelling Program Overview  
Image
Blood Cancer OncTalk
Video
Blood Cancer OncTalk was a live presentation that brought together top oncologists to discuss emerging concepts and treatment options in blood cancer. The program was chaired by Dr. Aaron Goodman, with the participation of Dr. Mazie Tsang, Hematologist / Oncologist; Dr. Autumn Jeong, Hematologist / Oncologist; Dr. Shaji Kumar, Hematologist / Oncologist; and Dr. Sridevi Rajeeve, Hematologist / Oncologist.

Forum Discussions

Hi Caregiver and welcome to Grace.  I'm sorry that you need to be here and hope we can help.  Osimertinib has better efficacy than gefitinib (including OS and reaching the brain)...

Hi Bob, Welcome to Grace.  I'm sorry about your sil.  Unfortunately, cancer becomes resistant to TKIs like tagrisso.  Sometimes all of the cancer becomes resistant at once and sometimes just parts...

Recent Comments

JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Hi Tammy,  Welome to Grace. …
By JanineT GRACE … on Tue, 05/16/2023 - 13:44
Concerned
By Tndiuka10 on Fri, 05/12/2023 - 21:13
Hi Caregiver and welcome to…
By JanineT GRACE … on Fri, 05/12/2023 - 14:20
Hi Bob, Welcome to Grace.  I…
By JanineT GRACE … on Tue, 05/02/2023 - 12:29