“It used to take a month or more for a newly diagnosed lung cancer patient to hop from one specialist to another to put a treatment plan in place,” says Russell K. Hales, M.D. That’s because of the complex nature of lung cancer—which requires many complicated decisions—as well as the aggressive nature of the disease.
Hales, who is a radiation oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center on the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus, says, “At Hopkins, we recognized this limitation, and last year established a multidisciplinary clinic to help our patients. Patients with a new diagnosis of lung cancer can now be evaluated by an entire team of specialists working together. The necessary scans, and studies can be obtained on the same day, and recommendations are given by a joint team. Now patients can go from having a diagnosis of lung cancer, to, having an entire plan to treat their tumor put together within a few day. We feel that this expedited care is the best way to treat this aggressive disease. “
You can watch a video of the lung cancer multi-disciplinary treatment team in action at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center on the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus, and find out more from Dr. Hales about lung cancer, treatments for it, and innovative new research to help lung cancer patients in the free webinar, Lung Cancer: Serious Treatment for a Serious Cancer.