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Center becomes first to offer early diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer

The screening is available to smokers, and former smokers 50 to 80 years old.

Meg Farris / WWL Louisiana Medical Reporter (WWL)

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Published: 5:29 PM CDT April 17, 2024
Updated: 5:29 PM CDT April 17, 2024

Lung cancer symptoms don't show up until late stages. So, it is the number one cancer killer for men and women.

And in Louisiana, where nearly 20 percent of people smoke, there’s a higher rate of the illness.

Now, the Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of the first places to offer a state-of-the-art early diagnosis, and treatment, combined.

Anne Eckert comes from a big family that likes to have fun. She's Krewe of Tucks former royalty, but she also comes from a family of smokers.

“My parents smoked in the house growing up. I'm sure my mama smoked through all the pregnancies, in the car, at dinner, you name it,” remembers Anne Eckert, 62, of Pass Christian, formerly New Orleans.

So, she started smoking at age 14 but quit 15 years later with the help of an American Lung Association class. But when her brother, and sister each got lung cancer, she decided in her early 60s, to get an early-detection CT scan at Ochsner. The screening is available to smokers, and former smokers 50 to 80 years old.  

“I really did not think it was going to be a bad CT scan, because I thought I had done what I needed to make sure I didn't get the cancer,” said Eckert.

But there it was, cancer in her upper right lung, smaller than a single pea. So, Dr. Susan Gunn and Dr. Brian Pettiford offered Anne a different, quick treatment. 

“So, if it seems like it's all confined to one lobe of the lung, and we all agree as a team that this patient is a great candidate for, what I tell the patients ‘A-one-and-done,’ then we will move them on to our Single Anesthesia Event (SAE) team,” explained Dr. Susan Gunn, a Critical Care and Pulmonology physician at theOchsner, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

In the OR, Dr. Gunn uses the Ion Robotic Bronchoscope to give her a road map, guiding her down the throat to the nodule in the lung. Using x-ray, and ultrasound guidance, she gets a biopsy. Pathologists right in the OR make the cancer diagnosis. Then Dr. Pettiford uses another robot, the Da Vinci XI, and goes through small incisions on the patient's side to remove the part of the lung, and lymph nodes with cancer.

“The single anesthesia event is designed to significantly decrease the wait time. We can offer the patient a definitive diagnosis, and definitive treatment under one anesthetic, one visit to the hospital,” said Dr. Brian Pettiford Section Head of General Thoracic Surgery and the Ochsner, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

So, Anne's cancer was found early, and way before any symptoms. She didn't have to wait 10 weeks and have two different surgeries. And recovery was much faster.

“So, from CAT scan to surgery was a month. I feel great. I feel literally great. My PSA announcement to anybody out there, go get a CAT scan,” said Eckert.

Insurance does cover the advance screening for smokers, and former smokers.

To see if you qualify call 504-842-LUNG.

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