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Reviewed By: Brunilda Nazario,
SOURCES: 2007 Medical Reference from Medstar Television. Thomas Daniel, MD, Thoracic Surgeon, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA.
© 1999-2011 Medstar Television
During a recent cat scan, doctors spotted a suspicious lesion in Kenneth Scott's lung.
As a patient you're frightened, because you know what the potential is.
Doctors had to check the long-time smoker for cancer, but finding a pea-size lesion in the lung is no easy task and often requires a major operation. But now hear this:
Geiger counter beeping
That's the sound of a new, less invasive technique developed by doctors at the University Of Virginia.
It's much less surgery than a big incision, spreading the rib. And we've been 85, well 95% successful, once we have the tracer in there, of locating lesions.
It's like a medical Geiger counter. First doctors locate the lesion with a cat scan and mark the area with a radioactive tracer. Next, they insert a gamma probe into the lung through a small incision.
Geiger counter beeping
Like a Geiger counter, we can pick up the sound of the radioactivity that's been placed near one of these lesions.
Once doctors find the right spot, the lesion is removed and biopsied. If it's benign, the patient goes home the next day. If it's cancer, like it was for Kenneth, there's more surgery. Studies suggest the technique spots lung cancer earlier.
33% of the patients that we operate on had lung cancer and all but one were early stage 1A lesions with no nodes positive. Much smaller than the classic finding.
Kenneth, who's since kicked the habit, is doing well.
I'm an extraordinarily lucky person.
And, so far, he's cancer-free. For WebMD, I'm Damon Meharg.
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