What are the indications for surgery?
A smoker or ex-smoker with a new density on chest x-ray has a 60-70 chance that the mass is a lung cancer. For this reason, the safest approach is to remove the mass surgically, if the patient is determined to be a reasonable risk on the basis of physiologic testing. As mentioned above, neither bronchoscopy or needle biopsy is reliable in ruling out lung cancer. If a diagnosis of lung cancer has been made by one of the tests mentioned earlier, surgical removal of the cancer is indicated if the tumor is Stage I or II. Carefully selected cases of Stage IIIA NSCLC should have surgical resection. Stage IIIB and IV are rarely candidates for surgical resection.
Frederic W. Grannis Jr. M.D If you have trouble contacting me with the address above, I may also be reached at 76516,2333@compuserve.com and at fgrannis@cris.com |