Dr Pelz on the Role of Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques in Lung Cancer

“Being able to get patients in and out of the hospital within the same day, or within a day or 2, and sometimes getting them recovered within 2 weeks after surgery and back to their normal lives has made a tremendous difference, and it’s all due to minimally invasive surgery.”

Geoffrey B. Pelz, MD, a thoracic surgeon in the Hackensack University Medical Group at the Hackensack University Medical Center, discussed the role of minimally invasive approaches for patients with lung cancer.

In the lung cancer treatment landscape, minimally invasive surgery techniques have significantly changed the way care is approached, Pelz began. In current times, the use of surgical techniques such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and robotic-assisted surgery has been on the rise.

However, historically, patients would often undergo a thoracotomy, requiring them to remain in the hospital for a week and a half, and subsequently take off of work for multiple months to fully recover from surgery, he explained. A challenging factor includes ensuring patients are aware of what their procedure will entail, he added. If patients have family members who previously underwent surgery, they could potentially believe that surgery could lead to morbid outcomes, complications, and long recoveries, Pelz emphasized. Therefore, patients may not want to proceed with screening for lung cancer in fear of finding the disease and having to undergo surgery, he explained.

Providing a thorough explanation of the procedure of the surgery—especially with a minimally invasive approach—could help patients better understand and accept the procedure, Pelz said. The capability of having patients undergo minimally invasive surgery and recover within 2 weeks before returning to their everyday lives has made a significant difference, he continued. Ensuring that patients are aware of these newer approaches is key to having them lower the barrier of seeking treatment for lung cancer, he concluded.