Dr. Eric Vallieres, thoracic surgeon, introduces us to and provides a brief history for the special case in lung cancer of a “Pancoast Tumor”, along with how its optimal treatment has evolved over several decades.

Dr. David Gerber, University of Texas-Southwestern, reviews a Swiss study comparing tri-modality therapy with chemoradiation followed by surgery to chemo followed by surgery for stage IIIA NSCLC.

[powerpress]

Our multidisciplinary thoracic oncology tumor board is dynamic and a highlight of the week, facilitated in equal parts by the fact that our group genuinely enjoys each other’s company and that it is the source of some engaging debate about the potential best way to manage several complex scenarios in lung cancer.

With special thanks to the support of the Lung Cancer Connection and longtime member and friend of GRACE Myrtle Chidester, I am very happy to offer a new video podcast presentation on one of the most controversial and interesting areas of lung cancer management. Stage IIIA NSCLC with N2 mediastinal node involvement generates debates among the experts as well as at local hospital tumor boards everywhere, on a weekly basis.

Malignant mesothelioma is a relatively rare but particularly deadly malignancy that arises from the lining of the pleural (chest) cavity or peritoneal (abdominal) cavity. About 70% of cases of mesothelioma are directly related to asbestos exposure, usually with about 30 or 40 years between exposure and diagnosis. While there are only about 2200 cases per year in the USA, this number is expected to increase over the next decade, as workers exposed to asbestos earlier in their lives eventually begin to manifest symptoms of the malignancy.

In a very recent post I provided an introduction to the special case in NSCLC known as a Pancoast tumor, including a historical perspective of how it has evolved from being perceived initially as an untreatable, uniformly fatal diagnosis to a cancer that could be cured with radiation and then surgery in a significant minority of patients (35% in one large series).