Valerie Rusch

Bio

When patients are treated for mesothelioma or lung cancer, it’s not unusual for them to feel isolated. It is therefore crucial for their doctors to make them feel emotionally and mentally at ease. This concept is never far from the thoughts of Valerie Rusch, M.D., chief of Thoracic Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

My colleagues at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and I use the highest level of technological expertise to treat our patients, but I also believe in a hands-on, person-to-person approach to ensure that my patients receive the best possible care.

"To minimize patient discomfort and length of hospital stay surgeons here use minimally invasive techniques such as video-assisted thoracic surgery and the latest high-tech procedures including robotically-assisted surgery whenever possible," she explained. "To determine the stage of lung and other thoracic cancers, we often use endobronchial ultrasound and esophageal ultrasound – techniques that allow us to determine the extent of tumors without an incision."

This dedication to her patients has always been important to Rusch, who's board-certified in surgery and thoracic surgery. She has accumulated 25 years of experience in diagnosing and treating patients with lung and chest cancers with a particular focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma. One of the first women in the country to be board certified in thoracic surgery, Rusch is a leader in this field.

Rusch promotes a multidisciplinary approach to patient care.

Tightly integrated, multidisciplinary care is the hallmark of our approach to the management of thoracic cancers.

Rusch's particular research emphasis revolves around the genetics and treatment of lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma and esophageal cancer. She helps coordinate multiple clinical studies for thoracic oncology on the national and international level. She feels that this is instrumental in identifying new techniques to diagnose these cancers earlier, as well as for effective treatment options.

Publications

Rusch has contributed to 32 mesothelioma publications, including a study of combination targerted therapy for malignant mesothelioma and an examination of the surgical controversies surrounding the disease.