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WellStar Cancer Network 2016 Annual Report

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Thoracic <strong>Cancer</strong> Program<br />

ACHIEVEMENTS<br />

The thoracic program has made remarkable<br />

progress in several areas, particularly in lung<br />

cancer screening and treatment. <strong>WellStar</strong> is<br />

home to a very active lung screening program,<br />

which in 2015 screened 1,500 patients. This<br />

was a noteworthy increase, as the average<br />

number of patients screened in previous years<br />

was 200-300 per year.<br />

The benefit of screening for high-risk patients<br />

has been what <strong>WellStar</strong> Chief Surgical Officer,<br />

William Mayfield, M.D., calls a “stage shift.”<br />

He explains that about 75% of patients who<br />

are diagnosed with lung cancer on the basis<br />

of presenting with symptoms, as opposed to<br />

having been screened, are at either stage 3<br />

or 4 at the time of diagnosis. Whereas among<br />

those who are identified as high risk and are<br />

screened for lung cancer, 75% of the cases are<br />

stages I or II at the time of diagnosis. Lung<br />

cancer generally has a very poor prognosis,<br />

and is more treatable when caught earlier,<br />

so this is a truly significant shift.<br />

In terms of treatment, the thoracic program<br />

has successfully reduced the amount of time<br />

from initial abnormal test result to initial<br />

treatment, thanks to <strong>WellStar</strong>'s STAT (Specialty<br />

Teams and Treatments) Clinics. Typically, a<br />

newly diagnosed lung cancer patient might<br />

wait between 50 and 60 days from the<br />

time of an abnormal X-ray until his or her<br />

first treatment, and would be compelled to<br />

have multiple appointments with different<br />

providers during that interminable<br />

wait. <strong>WellStar</strong> STAT Clinics have<br />

compressed this timeline to less<br />

than two weeks. This method<br />

has been shown to provide faster<br />

treatment at a lower price with<br />

better outcomes. Survival rates by<br />

stage have improved for patients<br />

treated in this environment, and<br />

now exceed the SEER database<br />

averages.<br />

procedures in the community setting. EBUS<br />

is a highly effective, minimally invasive biopsy<br />

that is guided with an ultrasound, so that the<br />

doctor can focus on specific tissue samples<br />

and areas of the airways and lungs that look<br />

irregular. EBUS procedures greatly increase the<br />

speed and accuracy with which our physicians<br />

can diagnose and stage lung cancer. <strong>WellStar</strong>'s<br />

STAT Clinics offer EBUS to improve patient<br />

experience in several ways: it saves a trip<br />

to an additional provider; it speeds time to<br />

treatment; and it causes the patient to miss<br />

less work, school and other activities. The<br />

faster diagnosis and staging can also reduce<br />

anxiety. EBUS is available at Cobb, Douglas<br />

and Kennestone hospitals.<br />

Clinical research is very active within the<br />

Thoracic <strong>Cancer</strong> Program. Led by Daniel<br />

L. Miller, M.D., patients are currently being<br />

enrolled in two national, minimally invasive<br />

(VATS) studies improving quality outcomes of<br />

patients undergoing VATS lung cancer surgery.<br />

More than 97% of our patients with early stage<br />

disease undergo surgery via a VATS approach.<br />

William Mayfield, M.D.<br />

Thoracic Sub<br />

Committee Chair<br />

GiGi Bellamy, BSN, RN<br />

Thoracic Oncology<br />

Nurse Navigator<br />

Another way that <strong>WellStar</strong>'s<br />

approach speeds the process from<br />

initial diagnosis to treatment is by<br />

having a pulmonologist perform<br />

Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS)<br />

20 • WELLSTAR CANCER NETWORK • <strong>2016</strong> ANNUAL REPORT

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