Lung Surgery

Lung surgery is performed for many reasons; however, the most common is to biopsy and treat lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in America. It is almost always found in people who have a history of tobacco smoking. In the past, lung cancer was usually not detected until it caused symptoms, at which point it was at an advanced stage where it was often incurable. When detected at an early stage, lung cancer can often be completely cured by surgery with or without the addition of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

A very large study of lung cancer screening performed across the United States found that screening people at risk for lung cancer with a C.T. scan can substantially reduce the number of deaths from lung cancer. Our world-class chest radiology department has spearheaded Naval Medical Center San Diego’s adoption of these screening standards allowing us to detect many cancers when they are still at an early stage.

Evaluation and treatment of our patients with lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases is planned at our weekly conference of lung specialists, including pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Our mission is not only state-of-the-art treatment, but also rapid detection and diagnosis.

The overwhelming majority of our lung surgery is performed minimally-invasively aided by high-definition scope technology (VATS). This results in less pain and faster recovery for our patients.

For more information on lung surgery or lung cancer, please contact 619-532-9140 to speak to a health care professional.