Surgery Types for Advanced Tumors

Transcript

Other options for more advanced tumors may include a bilobectomy, which is the removal of two lobes of the lung. A bilobectomy is a procedure that can be performed on the right side, where two of the three lobes are removed, leaving one remaining lobe on that side.

Beyond that, a pneumonectomy is sometimes an option as well. Pneumonectomy includes removal of the entire lung that can be performed on either side. And it’s really reserved for those cancers that, although they are potentially large and more centrally located, if they’re believed to have not spread anywhere and we think we can get the entire cancer out in a patient who’s otherwise very fit and can live with one lung, we can remove the entire lung in those special circumstances.

Key Takeaways

1. Other options for more advanced tumors may include a bilobectomy, which is the removal of two lobes of the lung.

2. A pneumonectomy, which includes removal of the entire lung that can be performed on either side, can also be an option.

3. Pneumonectomy is reserved for those cancers that are believed to have not spread anywhere and we think we can get the entire cancer out.

4. In a patient who’s otherwise very fit and can live with one lung, we can remove the entire lung.