Dr. David Harpole, Duke University Medical Center, describes the sleeve resection and how it can help selected patients with large tumors retain lung function.

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Transcript

There are multiple different types of lung cancer surgery. Dr. Eric Vallières, thoracic surgeon, reviews the different forms of lung surgery, include wedge resection, segmentectomy, lobectomy, and pneumonectomy.

Please feel free to offer comments and raise questions in our Discussion Forums.

Transcript

I'm very happy to present an audio interview with Dr. Eric Vallières, an excellent thoracic surgeon and Surgical Director of the Lung Cancer Program at Swedish Cancer Institute. Within the lung cancer community, he actually happens to be among the most well known thoracic surgeons in the country and even world, and he has a major expertise in the integration of chemotherapy and other systemic therapies for early stage lung cancer.

Surgery is the standard treatment for early stage lung cancer, sometimes also including other types of threrapy in addition. There are many types of lung cancer surgery, and there is still active debate about whether a pneumonectomy or lobectomy should be the preferred surgery for lung cancer, or whether a sub-lobar resection, either a segmentectomy or a wedge resection, is appropriate for certain patients. We need to start with some definitions.