Lung Cancer Treatment: More Hope Than Ever

Lung cancer care is changing quickly. At Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of UHealth – University of Miami Health System, new pre-surgical protocols, immunotherapies, and broader screening are directly improving patient outcomes.

“Our ability to match patients with the right therapy at the right time is improving dramatically,” says Diego Avella-Patino, M.D., a thoracic surgical oncologist at Sylvester. “In many cases, these strategies enable us to optimize the results and minimize the toxicity of treatments.”

Breaking New Ground With Immunotherapy

Sylvester clinicians are increasingly using immunotherapy, which harnesses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, for earlier-stage lung cancers. Recent research has shown that adding an immunotherapy drug called pembrolizumab to chemotherapy both before and after surgery significantly improves how long patients live with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that can be surgically removed.

“This is a major shift,” says Dr. Avella-Patino. “We’re now using immunotherapy before surgery and after surgery, not just after. This medication unleashes the patient’s immune cells to attack the cancer, and it leads to patients living longer.”

Sylvester has been at the forefront of advancing immunotherapy for lung cancer, leading both groundbreaking research and innovative clinical applications. “We have a lot of experience performing surgery in patients who have received immunotherapy,” Dr. Avella-Patino says. “We’re probably among the top 5% of cancer centers nationwide in terms of the volume of these cases.”

Dr. Avella-Patino and his colleagues continue to expand Sylvester’s research infrastructure, particularly for research into optimizing the use of immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer.

Dr. Avella-Patino is testing immunotherapies in preclinical models that closely resemble human immune components and tumor biology. “We’re able to test what the right combination of treatments is, what the right timing is, to test new medications in these experimental models,” he said. “Immunotherapy works, and we’ve seen a ton of benefits, but there are some side effects. We are working on optimizing the use of this treatment modality.”

Updated Screening Guidelines Mean More Lives Saved

Catching lung cancer early greatly improves treatment outcomes. The American Cancer Society (ACS) broadened its guidelines in 2023, recommending annual low-dose CT scans for adults aged 50–80 with a 20-pack-year smoking history (a pack a day for 20 years, or two packs a day for 10 years, and so on), regardless of when they quit smoking.

“This was a big step forward,” says Dr. Avella-Patino. “More people now qualify for screening, we can catch more cancers early, and we can potentially save more lives. Studies show that we save one life for about every 220 screening scans.”

Still, he adds, only about 18% of eligible individuals receive lung cancer screenings, which are key for early detection.

The Future is Now: AI and Liquid Biopsies

Behind the scenes, technology is also rapidly advancing how lung cancer is found and monitored:

• AI-assisted CT reading: Artificial intelligence will soon help doctors analyze CT scans, potentially spotting issues more quickly and accurately.
• Liquid biopsies: Research is advancing toward blood tests that can detect cancer markers or monitor how well treatment is working.

“These tools aren’t standard yet, but we are using them and learning more about their pros and cons,” says Dr. Avella-Patino. “And we’re incorporating them into our care model.”

These innovations promise even more precise and less invasive ways to manage lung cancer. “The team at Sylvester is leading the field in both surgical and medical treatment of lung cancer,” Dr. Avella-Patino says. “The combination of new treatments, new diagnostic tools and broader screening is going to help us detect cancer earlier and diagnose it better. That will improve the outlook for this deadly disease.”

Written by Rochelle Broder-Singer. Medically reviewed by Diego Avella-Patino, M.D.

Tags: Cancer screening technology, Dr. Diego Patino, Lung cancer research advancements, Personalized cancer therapy, Precision medicine in oncology, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center