NEW AT BRYANLGH participated in the free screenings, with 236 having abnormal results. Leah McClement, RN, who was instrumental in organizing the screening program, says, “At this early date we have confirmed five new cases of lung cancer. If our findings mimic the national trend, we can expect to discover eight new cases of lung cancer as a result of our screening efforts.” She also notes a number of other serious medical conditions unrelated to lung cancer were discovered during the screenings. “This screening program was a tremendous benefit to the community and region,” says Dr. Thompson. “Lung cancer is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages because of the lack of symptoms. However, if it is found early, tumors can be surgically removed before they’ve spread, which greatly improves a person’s chance for survival.” One such patient whose cancer was caught early is 56-year-old George Wallace whose girlfriend encouraged him to take part in the screenings. A three-pack-a-day smoker, Wallace was completely without symptoms. But the CT scan showed a cancer the size of a penny on his lung. Dr. Thompson did a surgical resection, which proved to be the cure. Wallace didn’t even need chemotherapy because the cancer was found and removed at an early stage. He knows how lucky he is that the cancer was found so soon, as Dr. Thompson told Wallace that he probably would have started developing symptoms a year or two from now — and at that point the tumor would have been too large to remove.
Multidisciplinary approach Even though the free lung cancer screening was offered for a limited time, the multidisciplinary approach to lung cancer care will continue at BryanLGH as it has been shown the best outcomes come from places that have such care models. “Since the closest specialty lung cancer centers are in St. Louis and at the Mayo Clinic, we are committed to building a truly integrated thoracic oncology center of excellence here at BryanLGH, where we will bring new techniques in lung cancer surgery and the ability to participate in clinical trials,” Dr. Thompson explains. BryanLGH involves all the key players in the treatment of lung cancer, such as radiologists, pathologists, pulmonologists, oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons. “We actually
The lung cancer stigma Lung cancer does not get the attention or the funding for research that breast, prostate or colon cancers receive. And regular screenings for lung cancer typically are not covered by insurance plans as they are for those other forms of cancer. Dr. Thompson would like to see this change. “Doctors and patients — everyone needs to get involved to get more funding and coverage for lung cancer,” he says. “The problem is that there is more of a stigma with lung cancer, that it is the patient’s fault. Because they smoked; they should have known better, people say. First of all, these are our parents and our grandparents who most likely did not know of the dangers of smoking and may have quit, but the damage was already done. Secondly, my job is to help people, regardless of how they came to the condition they have.” Though heart disease risk may be decreased with improved lifestyle choices, the same is not true with lung cancer. Once a person has smoked, his or her lung cancer risk never goes back to where it was — it is always elevated, even if the person quit years ago.
Outside of the hospital, Dr. Thompson focuses on his family — wife Jennifer and children Dylan and Natalie.
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