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If you developed lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos at work, you may qualify for compensation.
Get Help NowAsbestos-Related Lung Cancer Treatment
Table Of Contents
The primary goal of curative treatment for asbestos-related lung cancer is to remove and kill cancer cells to prevent its spread. For patients in advanced stages of disease progression, treatment may focus on palliative care or reducing symptoms to improve quality of life.
Written by Suzanne Dixon, MPH, MS, RDN | Medically Reviewed by Dr. Andrea Wolf | Edited by Walter Pacheco | Last Update:
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Sean Marchese, MS, RN: Asbestos Lung Cancer Treatment
Asbestos lung cancer is treated similar to other types of lung cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation are usually the go-to options for treating lung cancer caused by asbestos. In severe cases where surgery is not an option, you may have longer term treatments.
You may have more repeated cycles of radiation therapy. But also, there are newer medications and options that exist, including immunotherapy and clinical trials that are available for lung cancer patients.
You may have more repeated cycles of radiation therapy. But also, there are newer medications and options that exist, including immunotherapy and clinical trials that are available for lung cancer patients.
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Sean Marchese, MS, RN: Asbestos Lung Cancer Treatment
Asbestos lung cancer is treated similar to other types of lung cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation are usually the go-to options for treating lung cancer caused by asbestos. In severe cases where surgery is not an option, you may have longer term treatments.
You may have more repeated cycles of radiation therapy. But also, there are newer medications and options that exist, including immunotherapy and clinical trials that are available for lung cancer patients.
You may have more repeated cycles of radiation therapy. But also, there are newer medications and options that exist, including immunotherapy and clinical trials that are available for lung cancer patients.
How Is Asbestos Lung Cancer Treated?
Asbestos-related lung cancer treatment can involve various forms of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. When you receive a lung cancer diagnosis, your doctor will explain what type of tumor you have. There are two main types of lung cancer: Small cell and non-small cell.
Small cell and non-small cell lung cancers grow, spread and react to treatments differently. When you receive your diagnosis, your doctor will also explain the stage your cancer is at in terms of its progression. Your specific cancer type will play an important role in determining the best treatment plan for you.
Your doctor will also test the tumor itself. Molecular testing identifies certain gene changes and proteins in the cancer cells to determine which treatments will work best for your tumor. You may need to wait a few weeks to receive all your results before starting treatment to ensure your care team can figure out the right plan for you.
Exposure to asbestos is strongly associated with causing lung cancer, mesothelioma and several other severe respiratory diseases. Asbestos is the most common occupational risk factor for lung cancer, and workplace exposure significantly increases the chance of developing the disease.
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Dr. Jacques Fontaine: Treatment Options for Lung Cancer
The treatment for lung cancer is based on the type of lung cancer, whether it’s small cell or non small cell. And then within non small cell, there are different types, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and neuroendocrine tumors. And then, as you may know, each one then gets subdivided depending on the protein that’s overexpressed on it, or if there’s certain genetic mutations that we find on it. So the treatment is based on the type of lung cancer, its genetic fingerprint, but also on the stage of the lung cancer.
Lung cancer, just like any other cancer, is divided into four stages. Stage one being the earliest stage four being the most advanced. Stage one lung cancer is when the cancer is quite small and it’s only in the lung. It has not traveled to the lymph nodes and has not traveled to any other organs.
The best treatment for stage one lung cancer is to remove it with surgery.
We no longer have these days to do a big incision. We can do it with little incisions, a three d camera, and long thin instruments called robotic surgery. We used to have to remove the whole lung or a whole lobe or a third of the lung, but that’s no longer the case. If we’re able to catch the cancer when it’s still quite small stage one, we can now remove only a segment of lung, a smaller anatomic portion of the lung, which allows the patients to have a better quality of life, leaves them with more lung capacity so that they can breathe better.
For patients who cannot tolerate having surgery for their stage one lung cancer, or who simply don’t want surgery, the alternative to surgery, albeit with a slightly lower success rate, is radiation, what we call SBRT or stereotactic body radiation, which is high dose pinpoint radiation over three to five days targeted specifically to the cancer. And that is a good alternative to surgery for patients who are too old, too sick, or simply don’t want surgery. The results are very good, not as good as surgery. Unfortunately, most patients who get diagnosed with lung cancer have already stage two or stage three disease.
Stage two or stage three disease means that the cancer cells have left the tumor in the lung and have actually traveled to the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are the normal filters of the blood. We all have lymph nodes from our head to our feet. And it’s the first place that cancer goes to when it leaves an organ, whether we’re dealing with lung or breast or colon cancer, it’s the first place that cancer propagates to, goes to.
And if you have cancer cells in the lymph nodes, in the filters of the blood, you can safely assume that there’s a few microscopic cancer cells that have gone through that filter into the bloodstream and may have gone elsewhere in the body. In fact, when we take patients to the operating room for stage two or stage three cancer, the majority of them already have microscopic cancer cells that have gone to the brain or the bones or the liver that we just cannot see on a PET scan or a CAT scan, or an MRI. The fact that the cancer is in the lymph nodes and the filters of the blood, we can assume or predict that a few of these cancer cells are already out there.
So surgery is a good way to control the disease locally, to remove the tumor in the lung and in the lymph nodes. However, if we want to achieve a high cure rate, we have to give cancer medication that goes in the bloodstream to go catch those cancer cells, those microscopic cancer cells we can’t see on CAT scan that may be elsewhere in the body. And that is systemic therapy. So for stage two and stage three disease, in addition to surgery, a patient must get systemic therapy. Cancer therapy that goes through your whole system, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, ADC, radiopharmaceuticals. For patients with stage four disease, metastatic disease, when the tumor has already gone to other organs, we may not be able to cure the patients, but we certainly have good treatment options.
These treatment options are systemic treatment options.
That could be standard chemotherapy, it could be immunotherapy, it could be targeted therapy or pills, it could be antibody drug conjugates, which is the antibody antigen, or it could be radiopharmaceuticals. And when these treatment options are given, majority of the time they work and the tumor shrinks. And rarely the tumor can completely go away or go in complete remission in rare circumstances.
However, unfortunately, these tumor cells outsmart the treatment we give them and they develop a resistance.
Like bacteria or viruses can develop a resistance. Cancer cells can also develop a resistance to the treatment we give them. And after they’ve already shrunk or even disappeared on CAT scan, a few months or a year or two later, they start growing again. And we see them again on a CAT scan because they’ve grown resistant. So then we give them a different type of treatment. Maybe by then we have a new treatment that’s come on the market that’s effective.
Or maybe patients can also get investigational treatment, meaning a clinical trial. Clinical trials is when we administer patients experimental or investigational treatments. Those treatments in general are quite safe because they’ve already been tested in animal models or tested in phase one studies, and we’re now rolling them out to a larger population. And this allows patients to get medications that are not otherwise available on the market, medications that are not Medications that are not FDA approved, that may not be given outside of an academic university hospital.
Sometimes patients who get diagnosed with lung cancer, with stage two or stage three lung cancer, are rushing to start treatment, want to get it out immediately with surgery, or rushing to start systemic treatment. But in fact, it’s actually wiser to wait to get all the information from the tumor, all the data from the tumor, such as molecular testing, genetic fingerprinting of the tumor, looking for protein overexpression, to know exactly what type of tumor it is and are there specific targets on that tumor that we can use more appropriate, more effective medication? So although yes, it’s important to try to start cancer treatments immediately, it is best and wiser and better in the long term to wait a few extra days or a week or two more to be able to get all the information from the biopsies, from the molecular testing, get to see a specialist in a major cancer center to start with the right treatment from day one and not any treatment yesterday.
Lung cancer, just like any other cancer, is divided into four stages. Stage one being the earliest stage four being the most advanced. Stage one lung cancer is when the cancer is quite small and it’s only in the lung. It has not traveled to the lymph nodes and has not traveled to any other organs.
The best treatment for stage one lung cancer is to remove it with surgery.
We no longer have these days to do a big incision. We can do it with little incisions, a three d camera, and long thin instruments called robotic surgery. We used to have to remove the whole lung or a whole lobe or a third of the lung, but that’s no longer the case. If we’re able to catch the cancer when it’s still quite small stage one, we can now remove only a segment of lung, a smaller anatomic portion of the lung, which allows the patients to have a better quality of life, leaves them with more lung capacity so that they can breathe better.
For patients who cannot tolerate having surgery for their stage one lung cancer, or who simply don’t want surgery, the alternative to surgery, albeit with a slightly lower success rate, is radiation, what we call SBRT or stereotactic body radiation, which is high dose pinpoint radiation over three to five days targeted specifically to the cancer. And that is a good alternative to surgery for patients who are too old, too sick, or simply don’t want surgery. The results are very good, not as good as surgery. Unfortunately, most patients who get diagnosed with lung cancer have already stage two or stage three disease.
Stage two or stage three disease means that the cancer cells have left the tumor in the lung and have actually traveled to the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are the normal filters of the blood. We all have lymph nodes from our head to our feet. And it’s the first place that cancer goes to when it leaves an organ, whether we’re dealing with lung or breast or colon cancer, it’s the first place that cancer propagates to, goes to.
And if you have cancer cells in the lymph nodes, in the filters of the blood, you can safely assume that there’s a few microscopic cancer cells that have gone through that filter into the bloodstream and may have gone elsewhere in the body. In fact, when we take patients to the operating room for stage two or stage three cancer, the majority of them already have microscopic cancer cells that have gone to the brain or the bones or the liver that we just cannot see on a PET scan or a CAT scan, or an MRI. The fact that the cancer is in the lymph nodes and the filters of the blood, we can assume or predict that a few of these cancer cells are already out there.
So surgery is a good way to control the disease locally, to remove the tumor in the lung and in the lymph nodes. However, if we want to achieve a high cure rate, we have to give cancer medication that goes in the bloodstream to go catch those cancer cells, those microscopic cancer cells we can’t see on CAT scan that may be elsewhere in the body. And that is systemic therapy. So for stage two and stage three disease, in addition to surgery, a patient must get systemic therapy. Cancer therapy that goes through your whole system, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, ADC, radiopharmaceuticals. For patients with stage four disease, metastatic disease, when the tumor has already gone to other organs, we may not be able to cure the patients, but we certainly have good treatment options.
These treatment options are systemic treatment options.
That could be standard chemotherapy, it could be immunotherapy, it could be targeted therapy or pills, it could be antibody drug conjugates, which is the antibody antigen, or it could be radiopharmaceuticals. And when these treatment options are given, majority of the time they work and the tumor shrinks. And rarely the tumor can completely go away or go in complete remission in rare circumstances.
However, unfortunately, these tumor cells outsmart the treatment we give them and they develop a resistance.
Like bacteria or viruses can develop a resistance. Cancer cells can also develop a resistance to the treatment we give them. And after they’ve already shrunk or even disappeared on CAT scan, a few months or a year or two later, they start growing again. And we see them again on a CAT scan because they’ve grown resistant. So then we give them a different type of treatment. Maybe by then we have a new treatment that’s come on the market that’s effective.
Or maybe patients can also get investigational treatment, meaning a clinical trial. Clinical trials is when we administer patients experimental or investigational treatments. Those treatments in general are quite safe because they’ve already been tested in animal models or tested in phase one studies, and we’re now rolling them out to a larger population. And this allows patients to get medications that are not otherwise available on the market, medications that are not Medications that are not FDA approved, that may not be given outside of an academic university hospital.
Sometimes patients who get diagnosed with lung cancer, with stage two or stage three lung cancer, are rushing to start treatment, want to get it out immediately with surgery, or rushing to start systemic treatment. But in fact, it’s actually wiser to wait to get all the information from the tumor, all the data from the tumor, such as molecular testing, genetic fingerprinting of the tumor, looking for protein overexpression, to know exactly what type of tumor it is and are there specific targets on that tumor that we can use more appropriate, more effective medication? So although yes, it’s important to try to start cancer treatments immediately, it is best and wiser and better in the long term to wait a few extra days or a week or two more to be able to get all the information from the biopsies, from the molecular testing, get to see a specialist in a major cancer center to start with the right treatment from day one and not any treatment yesterday.
Was Your Lung Cancer Caused by Asbestos at Work?
Doctors don’t always ask people with lung cancer about their job history. If you worked around asbestos for years, you may qualify for compensation from the companies that made or supplied the products you encountered. This is separate from your health insurance.
Jobs With Known Asbestos Exposure
- Auto mechanics
- Boilermakers
- Insulators
- Navy servicemembers
- Pipefitters
- Railroad car repairmen
- Refinery operators
- Shipyard workers
- Steelworkers
Workers in these trades have a well-documented history of asbestos exposure, regardless of their smoking history. Law firms with asbestos experience usually look for work exposure, exposure of 5 years or longer and exposure before 1990. These factors make it easier to build an asbestos lung cancer case.
However, you may still have a claim even if you have shorter exposure, you encountered asbestos after 1990 or a family member unintentionally exposed you by bringing asbestos home on their work clothes. A free case review to explore your options takes only a few minutes and costs nothing.
Staging
The stage a patient’s cancer has progressed to may limit treatment options. Lung cancer can spread to the lymph nodes and distant organs as it progresses, making treatment increasingly difficult. The earlier the diagnosis, the more treatment options there are. This increases the likelihood of successful treatment.
Staging and Treatment
- A biopsy, which removes a small tissue sample for lab testing, confirms your cancer type. Your care team may also test nearby lymph nodes because cancer in your lymph nodes can impact your treatment plan.
- A CT scan reveals your tumor’s size and location.
- A PET scan detects cancer in other parts of your body
- Doctors assign a stage after they complete imaging and tissue tests.
Non-small cell lung cancers are commonly classified with a 4-stage system. A higher stage indicates more advanced disease.
Lung cancer statistics show that outcomes and treatment plans differ between stages. In stage 1, doctors usually choose surgery as the first treatment option because the tumor is only in the lung and hasn’t reached the lymph nodes. In stages 2 and 3, the tumor may grow larger or cancer may spread to nearby lymph nodes. At these stages, your care team typically uses systemic therapy that may combine surgery or radiation with drugs that travel through your bloodstream. In stage 4, the cancer spreads to other parts of your body. At this stage, your medical team focuses on systemic therapy and symptom relief rather than removing the tumor.
Small cell lung cancer is staged using a 2-stage system: Limited stage or extensive stage. In the limited stage, the cancer is only found in a single lung and possibly nearby lymph nodes. In an extensive stage, the tumor has spread to both lungs or other organs.
Surgery
Surgery’s goal is to remove a tumor and nearby cancerous tissue, ideally eliminating the disease completely. The tumor’s size, its location and how far the cancer has spread affects how much tissue is removed.
Many lung cancer surgeries don’t require a large incision across your chest. Instead, surgeons can make a few small cuts using a tiny camera and long, thin tools. These techniques are called minimally invasive or robotic surgery. Smaller cuts usually mean less pain and a shorter hospital stay, and removing less lung tissue can leave you with more breathing capacity after surgery.
Most people stay in the hospital for several days after lung surgery. You may need a month or longer to recover at home. After surgery, your care team will begin breathing exercises with you, since it is critical to keep your remaining lung tissue working well for recovery. If asbestos exposure has already harmed your breathing, ask your surgeon how well your lungs are expected to work after surgery.
If the cancer is found in an early stage when spread is limited, curative surgery is preferred for its statistically high success rates. However, in advanced-stage cancer where a cure is unlikely, palliative surgery may be performed to relieve symptoms and make patients more comfortable. In addition to a patient’s cancer stage, doctors look at the cancer’s type before recommending a curative surgery approach. Coexisting conditions, such as heart disease, could make a patient ineligible for surgery.
Lung Cancer Surgery Options
| Procedure | What Surgeons Remove | When Doctors Use It |
| Lobectomy | One full lobe of the lung | The cancer is in one lobe. This is the most common surgery for non-small cell lung cancer that hasn’t spread. |
| Pneumonectomy | The entire lung | The tumor is large or sits near the main airways, and a smaller surgery can’t remove all of it. |
| Segmentectomy | One section of a lung lobe | The tumor is small, contained and the surgeon wants to save more of your lung. |
| Wedge resection | A small, wedge-shaped piece of lung around the tumor | The tumor is small, or your lungs can’t handle a bigger operation. |
Surgery for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Studies suggest that people who have early-stage non-small cell lung cancer surgically removed have better long-term outcomes than those who don’t. In most cases, non-small cell lung cancers are removed through lobectomy. If the patient has poor lung function, however, doctors may remove only a small wedge of the lung via surgical resection.
Doctors usually offer surgery if the cancer hasn’t spread past your lung and nearby lymph nodes. They may also suggest surgery if your overall health and lung function can handle an operation.
Surgery for Small Cell Lung Cancer
Surgery is an option only in a few special cases of small cell lung cancer. This is because small cell lung cancer spreads much more aggressively than non-small cell lung cancer. Although surgical treatment for small cell is rare, studies have reported positive results for the small percentage of patients with very limited disease.
Most people with small-cell lung cancer get chemotherapy and radiation instead. This is because the cancer has usually spread too far for surgery by the time doctors find it. Doctors often use cisplatin or carboplatin to treat lung cancer. They usually pair it with a second drug, such as Alimta (pemetrexed), Taxol (paclitaxel) or Navelbine (vinorelbine).
Chemotherapy
When there is clear evidence that lung cancer has spread from the initial tumor, chemotherapy is recommended. This treatment is typically not curative for lung cancer, but has been known to reduce the size of tumors and kill cancer cells that have spread to the lymph nodes. For patients, this usually translates to a longer, more comfortable life.
Whether taken intravenously or in pill form, chemotherapy drugs target rapidly dividing cells. This kills cancer cells, but can also affect normal healthy cells including hair follicles, red and white blood cells and the cells that line the stomach.
Relapse, or cancer coming back after treatment, is common after surgery. This is why doctors consider chemotherapy for many people with lung cancer at some point in their treatment. Chemotherapy after surgery aims to kill cancer cells that are too small to show up on scans.
More than 50%
In FDA-reviewed trials, targeted drugs shrank tumors in over half of people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and certain gene changes.
Chemotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
In the earliest stages of non-small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery to reduce tumor size and eliminate early spreading. Doctors call this approach neoadjuvant chemotherapy. For patients with limited lymph node involvement, chemotherapy can also be given post-surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells. This is known as adjuvant chemotherapy and helps prevent the chance of cancer recurrence.
For later stage cancers when surgery is no longer an option, chemotherapy is often administered with simultaneous radiation therapy. Known as combined chemoradiation therapy, this option often boasts survival rates higher than either treatment given alone or one after the other. This treatment is common if the cancer has spread to the mediastinal lymph nodes, which are located outside of the lung near the trachea and esophagus.
Chemotherapy for Small Cell Lung Cancer
For early-stage small cell lung cancer patients in otherwise good health, doctors recommend combined chemoradiation therapy. Small cell cancers are highly responsive to chemotherapy, and survival is significantly improved when it is combined with early radiation therapy.
Once the cancer enters the extensive stage and spreads to distant organs, doctors typically prescribe a platinum-based chemotherapy regimen. This will involve platinum containing drugs like cisplatin or carboplatin with one or more additional chemotherapy drugs.
As many as 80%
The percentage of small cell lung cancer patients who may respond at least briefly to chemotherapy when the disease has already spread from the chest cavity (extensive stage disease).
Radiation Therapy
Radiation is an effective treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Evidence suggests it can control early-stage tumors in people who don’t have surgery. While radiation can help with local control, it’s much less effective for small cell lung cancer. This is especially true when it’s already spread extensively.
When lung cancer patients aren’t eligible for surgery, radiation is often recommended. High-energy targeted radiation stops cancerous cell division and reduces the size of tumors. The amount of radiation administered is thousands of times greater than the amount used in X-ray imaging, but treatment is divided into doses to limit the damage done to healthy tissues.
Doctors often use stereotactic body radiation therapy when a patient with an early-stage tumor can’t have surgery or chooses not to. SBRT delivers high doses of radiation directly to the tumor over 3 to 5 days instead of several weeks of daily treatment. While the results are good, doctors still consider surgery the standard for people healthy enough to have it.
Like surgery, radiation therapy is a local treatment that only affects cells in the treatment area. Response rates for radiation therapy are significantly high, but relapse is common. As a result, it’s more often used palliatively. It’s administered in small doses to reduce pain where tumors have spread. It can also be given to prevent or treat lung cancers that spread to the brain.
Clinical Trials and Emerging Treatments
Clinical trials test new drug combinations to improve treatment success rates while minimizing undesirable side effects. Many experimental or emerging lung cancer treatments are also used to treat other asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma, which develops on the lining of the lungs. Clinical trials for these treatments will often accept both lung cancer and mesothelioma patients. A number of clinical trials studying combinations of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, targeted therapies and gene therapies are currently underway. Ask your doctor for more information about joining a clinical trial or speak with a Patient Advocate.
Researchers are studying several treatments for lung cancer. Immunotherapy helps your immune system find and attack cancer cells. Targeted therapy is supported by molecular testing and blocks a certain gene change or protein that helps tumors grow. Antibody-drug conjugates link a chemotherapy drug to an antibody, delivering it to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.
Clinical trials aren’t a last resort. Some are open to people who haven’t started treatment yet, and joining one usually doesn’t mean giving up standard care. Ask your oncologist if a trial fits your cancer type and stage, how many visits it requires, how much travel is needed and what happens if the treatment doesn’t work for you. Our Patient Advocates can help you learn what’s available at no cost.
A 2021 study, for example, reported positive results combining photodynamic therapy with chemotherapy for lung cancer. Researchers reported improved disease control, reduced treatment resistance and increased overall effectiveness in cancer reduction compared to conventional options.
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Talk to an AdvocateAsbestos Lung Cancer Doctors
If you have been diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer, you’ll likely see more than one type of doctor. Leading cancer facilities recommend a multimodal approach to treatment, meaning several doctors specializing in different areas will work together to treat one patient.
Specialists Who Work in Multimodal Teams
- Medical Oncologist: An oncologist treats patients with chemotherapy, targeted immunotherapies or a combination of these. Some stage 1 and 2 and most stage 3 and 4 non-small cell lung cancer patients will receive treatment from a medical oncologist as part of multimodal treatment.
- Pathologist: Although this is a physician the patient will probably never meet, the pathologist examines tissue samples to determine if someone has asbestos lung cancer and what type.
- Pulmonologist: A pulmonologist, or pulmonary therapist, specializes in diseases of the lung and bronchial tubes.
- Radiation Oncologist: A radiation oncologist or radiologist specializes in treating lung cancer patients with radiation. Some stage 2 and most stage 3 and 4 non-small cell lung cancer patients receive radiation.
- Thoracic Surgeon: A thoracic surgeon performs operations on the chest.
Because lung cancer is so prevalent — the second-most diagnosed cancer in the United States — there is no shortage of doctors who treat it. The number of doctors who specialize in asbestos-related lung diseases is much smaller. Treating asbestos lung cancer comes with a special set of circumstances and challenges.
Exclusive Content
Dr. Flores: What’s Changed With Lung Cancer Surgery?
Lung cancer surgery has changed over the past decades, but not as much as people think.
Your body hasn’t changed. The cancers now are smaller because in the old days, they used to just have x-ray, and x-ray missed a lot of tumors. Now we have CAT scan, which is finding tumors at a much smaller size. And that has changed the face of lung cancer.
Everybody thinks it’s minimally invasive surgery, vats, thoracoscopic, robotic. And that’s my entire practice. I’ve been doing minimally invasive surgery since the year 2000. But that’s not what changed lung cancer surgery.
Lung cancer surgery has dramatically changed by finding these tumors earlier. You take out less lung, you make smaller incisions, they have a better cure rate, they have a better survival rate, and functionally, they do much better.
Your body hasn’t changed. The cancers now are smaller because in the old days, they used to just have x-ray, and x-ray missed a lot of tumors. Now we have CAT scan, which is finding tumors at a much smaller size. And that has changed the face of lung cancer.
Everybody thinks it’s minimally invasive surgery, vats, thoracoscopic, robotic. And that’s my entire practice. I’ve been doing minimally invasive surgery since the year 2000. But that’s not what changed lung cancer surgery.
Lung cancer surgery has dramatically changed by finding these tumors earlier. You take out less lung, you make smaller incisions, they have a better cure rate, they have a better survival rate, and functionally, they do much better.
Finding the Right Asbestos-Lung Cancer Doctor for You
A growing number of well-regarded specialists who treat this disease are serving patients around the country. We can connect you with doctors such as thoracic surgeon Dr. Raphael Bueno, who is the associate chief of thoracic surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, or Dr. James Luketich, who is chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute.
Raphael Bueno
Pleural Specialist | Thoracic Surgery
Expertise:
Pleurectomy and Decortication
Extrapleural Pneumonectomy
Expertise:
Pleurectomy and Decortication
Extrapleural Pneumonectomy
Dr. Raphael Bueno is the Division of Thoracic Surgery chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and director of the renowned International Mesothelioma Program.
Read Bio
James Luketich
Pleural Specialist | Thoracic Surgery
Expertise:
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Research
Expertise:
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Research
Dr. James Luketich is a board-certified thoracic surgeon and founder of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His innovative use of new surgical technologies has paved the way for safer and more effective mesothelioma procedures.
Read BioWith our network of more than 500 of the best mesothelioma specialists around the U.S., our Patient Advocates can help you find the right doctor for you. They also help with insurance, VA claims and answering questions you may have about clinical trials or available resources.
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