Lung and Esophageal Cancer

Chemotherapy in Comfort

Chemotherapy Treatment: What to Expect

Nothing matters more to us than getting you well, and getting you home. Depending on what type of cancer you have and how advanced it is, chemotherapy may play an essential role in successfully treating lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and mesothelioma. From the moment you arrive for your chemo treatment, one of our nurses will be there to greet you and guide you, keeping you and your loved one informed, comfortable, and in good spirits throughout your visit.

How Does Chemotherapy Work?

Using a combination of specialized drugs, chemotherapy has the power to destroy or slow down the growth of fast-growing cancer cells. It can be administered intravenously or orally, depending on whether you have lung cancer, esophageal cancer, or mesothelioma. At AdventHealth Cancer Institute, our oncology experts take an individualized approach to your chemotherapy treatment. Your diagnosis and overall health will determine which treatment(s) is best for you.

Chemotherapy may be the only treatment you receive, or, more commonly, it’s used in combination with surgery and/or radiation therapy. Along the way, we're here to help however we can, answering any questions and helping you stay strong and optimistic before, during, and after your treatment.

Understanding Your Treatment Options

Radiation Therapy: What to Expect

While radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for lung and esophageal cancer, at AdventHealth Cancer Institute, we do it with uncommon expertise, guidance, and compassion. Your Nurse Navigator and physician teams will guide every aspect of your treatment, educating you on how to feel your best before, during and after. Using sophisticated radiation technology, we can target tumors in and around your lungs and esophagus with amazing precision, easing your pain and leaving healthy tissue untouched. Depending on your diagnosis, your dedicated team may recommend radiation alone, but in many cases, we combine it with surgery and chemotherapy.

How Does Radiation Therapy Work?

Across our cancer institute, our oncology experts take an individualized approach to every patient’s treatment plan. Radiation therapy targets specific areas of the body, shrinking tumors and killing cancer cells by damaging their DNA.

When treating lung or esophageal cancer, radiation therapy can be delivered in multiple ways with various technologies:

• Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) relies on fluoroscopic CT images of the constantly moving lungs, allowing for more precise dosing.
• External radiation delivers radiation in a concentrated beam to keep nearby healthy tissue unaffected.
• Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a highly accurate tool used for higher doses of radiation while keeping your comfort in mind.
• 3D simulation and treatment planning visualizes the area and allows the radiology team to create a personalized plan for treatment.
• Trilogy^® is a system that provides a range of treatments all in one machine, giving your team fuller access to more tools and precision.
• Stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy concentrate higher doses over a shorter period of time for early stage lung cancers to make treatment go by faster.
• Endobronchial HDR (high dose radiation) delivers highly targeted, high doses of radiation to the bronchial tree area to reduce or remove any obstruction caused by a tumor.

Throughout your treatment, your nurses and your radiology care team are there to keep you and your loved ones informed, comfortable, and uplifted.

Specialized Surgeries

If surgery is part of your treatment plan, it’s reassuring to know that your health is in the hands of specialized thoracic surgeons. As a recognized leader in lung and esophageal cancer care, we’re helping patients heal through innovative surgical care day in and day out.

Options for Surgery

Surgery for lung or esophageal cancer can be a promising step forward on your path to healing. Your dedicated team of cancer specialists will review every detail of your medical history and recent tests to recommend the most effective treatment plan for you. Surgery may be the only treatment you need, or, more commonly, it’s used in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

We typically treat lung cancer through one of following surgery options:

• Wedge resection removes the tumor and some surrounding tissue.
• Lobectomy takes out a whole section, or lobe, of the lung.
• Pneumonectomy removes the lung that is affected by cancer.
• Sleeve resection targets the bronchus, the tubes that connect the lungs to the trachea.

As a different type of cancer, esophageal cancer requires different surgical procedures depending on the location of your tumor(s). Surgery is the most common treatment for these cancers, and can include:

• Esophagectomy removes part of the esophagus and reattaches the new ending to the stomach, sometimes adding plastic tubing to connect the two.
• Wide local excision targets the tumor and surrounding tissues for a precise procedure.
• Pleurectomy and decortication removes part of the chest and lung linings.
• Extrapleural pneumonectomy removes one lung and any cancerous parts of the lining of the chest or diaphragm.
• Pleurodesis drains fluid from the pleura, a lining of the lungs.
• Endoscopic mucosal resection removes abnormal lesions or tumors from the lining of your esophagus.

Regardless of what procedure you need, from pre- to post-op, we’ll be there with open arms to ease you into your recovery.

Immunotherapy

Your spirit is pulling you through. You’re willing your body to do the same. And with immunotherapy, it can. Over the last few decades, this amazing biological therapy has become an essential part of many patients’ cancer treatment.

How Does Cancer Immunotherapy Work?

Immunotherapy includes innovative treatment that works to help treat cancer in two primary ways:

• Immunotherapy can stimulate your immune system to work harder, smarter, and quicker, and fight back against cancerous cells.
• Immunotherapy can infuse you with immune system components, such as man-made immune system proteins, like monoclonal antibodies.

There are four main types of immunotherapy most commonly used:

• Monoclonal antibodies are man-made versions of immune system proteins. We can design these to attack a very specific part of a cancer cell.
• Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors are a combination of drugs that can help your immune system recognize and attack cancer cells.
• Cancer vaccines can help jump-start an immune response against certain diseases.
• Other non-specific immunotherapies boost your immune system in a general way.

Your physician and Nurse Navigator will talk you through the immunotherapy process, from choosing a specific immunotherapy treatment to managing the potential side effects.