The Thoracic Oncology Program, formally launched in 1995, is designed to bring leading-edge care to patients with thoracic malignancies, including cancers of the lung, esophagus, thymus, chest wall and mediastinum. By incorporating specialists from pulmonary medicine, surgery, medical and radiation oncology, thoracic radiology, pathology, and oncology nursing into a single patient care team, we ensure that expertly developed care is individualized for each patient and delivered in a well-coordinated and caring manner. This reduces the number of return visits the patient has to make prior to starting treatment. The exchange of knowledge and opinions among team members ensures that the best possible treatment plan is developed for each patient.
Patients have ready access to a full array of services and treatments.
We aim to provide the highest quality, most advanced care to our patients in an efficient manner to achieve a high level of patient satisfaction. A full array of diagnostic biopsy techniques is available, from transbronchial biopsy and fine needle aspiration to thoracoscopic biopsy with CT-guided localization. Accurate staging of lung cancer is important and is accomplished by mediastinoscopy, anterior mediastinotomy or thoracoscopic node sampling. LIFE allows us to study the natural history and molecular biology of premalignant lesions. UNC is one of a dozen institutions in the country being equipped for CT- Fluoroscopy.