By John A. Heim
Perhaps you break a rib during a fall or have trouble breathing because of an infection.
Your doctor orders a chest x-ray and finds a spot on your lung.
Believe it or not – you’re actually lucky.
While lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, when detected and treated early, the cure rate is generally more than 70 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.
A deadly disease
Lung cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in both men and women in the United States, with more than 220,000 Americans diagnosed each year.
It is also the deadliest cancer, as more people die of lung disease than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined, according to the American Cancer Society.
Because lung cancer typically doesn’t cause signs and symptoms in its earliest stages, it can often go undiscovered until its advanced stages. Symptoms of lung cancer can include:
* Cough that gets worse or does not go away
* * Trouble breathing, including shortness of breath
* * Constant chest pain
* * Coughing up blood
* * Hoarse voice
* * Frequent lung infections, such as pneumonia
* * Feeling very tired all the time
* * Unexplained weight loss
* If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor promptly.
Screening
Early stage lung cancer is often only detected when it’s picked up on x-rays for an unrelated problem such as a broken rib or torn rotator cuff.
However, lung cancer care took a major step forward recently when a study found that screening with spiral CT scans might reduce a smoker’s risk of death from lung cancer by 20 percent.
Spiral CT scans use low-dose radiation to make a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body. The pictures are made by a computer linked to an x-ray machine that scans the body in a spiral path. The procedure is also called a low-dose helical CT scan.
If you have history of heavy smoking, have been exposed to radon or asbestos or have a family history of lung cancer, you are at greater risk for the disease and should talk to your doctor about CT screening for lung cancer.
Advances in surgery
CT scans can detect lung nodules, which are small masses of tissues that may indicate cancer. Patients with low-risk nodules are typically followed for two years with additional imaging studies to ensure the nodules do not progress.
If a high-risk nodule is detected, doctors at UMCP will likely perform a biopsy to test for cancer or will surgically remove the growth.
Video-assisted thoracic surgery uses a miniature camera to help doctors perform the procedure with a less invasive approach, when appropriate for the patient’s case.
At UMCP, doctors are also now performing complex thoracic surgeries with the da Vinci® Surgical System. The da Vinci system allows doctors to perform complex operations through a few tiny incisions between the ribs.
The da Vinci system provides surgeons with enhanced vision, dexterity, precision and control. Patients benefit from:
* Fewer complications
* * Less blood loss
* * Shorter hospital stay
* * Less pain
* * Faster return to normal quality of life
* Prevention
While diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer is becoming increasingly sophisticated, prevention remains the best medicine. Here are three tips for preventing lung cancer:
* Don’t smoke. The best way to beat lung cancer is to avoid smoking, which is responsible for 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and 80 percent in women, according to the National Institutes of Health.
* Avoid exposure to asbestos. Though the use of asbestos has declined since the early 1900s when it was a common construction material, it can still be found in some products as well as older building and water pipes. Follow standard safety procedures when working around asbestos.
* Know your home’s radon level. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can be harmful when in concentrated places like your home. Test your home’s radon level with a do-it-yourself kit, and talk to contractor about fixing the problem if the levels are high.
For more information about UMCP’s Cancer Program, which is accredited by the American College of Surgeon’s Commission on Cancer, call (609) 497-4475.
To find a thoracic surgeon affiliated with Princeton HealthCare System call (888) 742-7496 or visit www.princetonhcs.org.
John A. Heim, M.D., is board certified in general and thoracic surgery and is the chairman of the Department of Surgery at University Medical Center at Princeton.

