Lung cancer
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If you are concerned about a lung condition and are worried that it could be lung cancer, we are able to offer you rapid diagnosis and the latest approaches to treating this disease.
Through our affiliation with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, you will have access to our team of highly experienced cancer doctors, surgeons and respiratory specialists who treat many patients with lung cancer on the NHS and privately.
Our lung cancer services are run at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals where your care will be planned and reviewed by a highly-skilled multi-disciplinary team of different experts. They will carefully develop an individual treatment plan for you to achieve the best possible results and you will be involved in all decisions about your care.
The very best cancer care
We are able to offer you the very best in lung cancer treatment because:
- our highly-skilled lung cancer diagnostics team has access to the latest techniques to give you a rapid and accurate diagnosis
- our multi-disciplinary approach means a range of different experts, some leaders in their field, will work together to treat your cancer in the best possible way
- we will involve you in all decisions about your treatment and aim to give you choices on the range of tests and therapies we offer
- our foremost priority is to treat your lung cancer as effectively as possible and a significant number of our patients undergo surgery as a first line of treatment where appropriate
- many of our patients are given the opportunity to take part in clinical trials of new treatments and we are affiliated to the world-class Imperial College academic institution
Your diagnosis
Once you are referred to us for private treatment, we will rapidly diagnose your lung cancer so that we can develop a treatment plan tailored to your condition.
Our multi-skilled diagnostics team will perform all the necessary tests including blood tests, chest x-rays, CT (computerised tomography) scans, biopsies (taking tissue samples for testing) and bronchoscopies (a test to view the airways). We are also able to perform endocroncial ultrasound (EBUS) guided biospsies of lymph nodes in the centre of your chest, via bronchoscopy which can provide rapid diagnosis and/or staging.
We will also test your samples for new molecular and genetic markers which may suggest that newer anticancer treatments would be suitable for you.
You will be looked after by an expert consultant-led team of experts which may include specialist surgeons, oncologists (cancer doctors specialising in radiotherapy and anti-cancer medicines), radiologists, respiratory doctors and specialist nurses.
They will review your tests and scans and develop a personalised treatment plan for you, involving you at every stage in your future care.
Your treatment for lung cancer
As one of our private patients, you will have rapid access to all the available treatments for lung cancer.
The type of treatment recommended for you will depend on the type of lung cancer you have, where it is, its size and whether it has spread.
The main treatments are:
Cancer surgery
Surgery involves removing the cancer cells with a part or all of the lung. You will be able to breathe normally with one lung, although you may continue to experience some breathlessness if you had these symptoms before treatment.
If surgery is the right option for you, you will be in the hands of a highly specialist team of lung cancer surgeons using the latest techniques such as minimally-invasive keyhole surgery to ensure that your recovery is as rapid as possible.
We also offer a procedure called radiofrequency ablation for certain types of lung cancer diagnosed early. Your doctor will use a CT scanner to guide a small probe through your chest and into the tumour. Heat is then passed through the probe to destroy the cancer cells.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays to destroy cancer cells. You may have radiotherapy after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells, or if surgery is not the best option for you we may recommend radiotherapy as a treatment on its own or in combination with chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs).
For more information please visit the radiotherapy section of our website.
Chemotherapy and targeted therapies
We have a team of highly-skilled medical and clinical oncologists who are experts in using drugs to treat cancer. If it is an effective option for you, we may recommend chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells either on its own or in combination with radiotherapy.
Our specialist expertise means we are also able to offer the most innovative therapies including targeted therapies which are drugs that slow the growth of cancer by interfering with specific molecules in certain tumours.
As one of our private patients, you will have accelerated access to the newest drug therapies and your expert team will discuss with you the best options for you. For more information please visit the chemotherapy section of our website.
Research
Many of our consultants are involved in research into the latest treatments for lung cancer through our partnership with Imperial College London. This means you will have access to the latest therapies and an opportunity to take part in clinical trials where appropriate.