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