The Center for Chest Care was established in 1999 when three local physicians decided that the diagnosis and treatment of cancers in the lung and chest needed to be improved upon. As a result, they formed the first community-based, multidisciplinary chest cancer clinic in the United States – The Center for Chest Care.
The Center provides multidisciplinary care for patients with known or suspected cancer of the lung and chest. The specialists needed to diagnose and treat cancers of the lung and chest work together in the same location, at the same time.
The goal of this clinic is to make the diagnosis and treatment of cancer of the lung and chest an easier process. This is done in part by eliminating multiple visits to multiple specialists scattered throughout the region.
Patients appreciate the ease and convenience of having access to all of their doctors in one place, at one time, as well as being able to remain close to home.
The day of your visit, the multidisciplinary team evaluates and discusses your case. Each physician contributes his expertise to each patient’s individualized plan. As a result, you are considered for all treatment options including clinical research trials.
Lung Cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. With over 200,000 new diagnoses per year and over 160,000 deaths per year, lung cancer is responsible for more deaths each year than breast, colon and prostate cancer combined. Primarily because it is discovered in advanced stages. There is an enormous benefit to detecting lung cancer at its early stages. A screening CT gives the best chance for early detection.
Lung cancer screening is important, since early stage lung cancer often has no symptoms. A recent clinical trial has found that lung cancer screening with low-radiation dose CT scans significantly lowers the risk of dying from lung cancer by 20%, because it is discovered earlier.
Screening for lung cancer is not a one-time test, but a process that involves a periodic evaluation of your lungs over time to look for newly emerging cancer. The capability of CT scanners to detect tiny lung nodules and to compare the nodules for changes in size over time is a critical part of the screening process.
If you are 50 years or older, have a long history of smoking, exposure to occupational or environmental cancer causing substances,have a family
history of lung cancer, then this screening could be right for you.