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Lung Cancer

What is lung cancer?

Lung cancer is an abnormal growth of cells in the lungs. It can spread to other parts of the body, most often to the liver, brain, bones, and other parts of the lungs, including the outer lining (called the pleura). Cancer from other parts of the body may also spread to the lungs, but this is not called lung cancer.

There are two main types of lung cancer:

In addition, there is going to a new websiteMesothelioma, a type of cancer in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the lining of the chest or abdomen. [This link also opens into the Health Library on the UofMHealth.org website.]

There is hope, innovation and support available for those with all forms of lung cancer here at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Patient Care and Treatment:
The Thoracic Oncology Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center has assembled a team to provide care to our patients diagnosed with lung cancer or mesothelioma. The team is staffed by thoracic surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists, pathologists and nurses dedicated to providing patients with the best possible care. For patients with lung cancer, optimal treatment usually requires the integration of multiple therapeutic modalities, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Our team consists of experts in each of these disciplines who focus extensively on the care of patients with lung cancer and who meet regularly in a Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Clinic and the Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Conference to determine the best management strategy for each individual patient.

Research and Innovation: The U-M Thoracic Oncology Program has also developed and participated in numerous clinical trials for patients with all stages of small cell and non-small cell lung cancer to evaluate novel therapeutic strategies using leading-edge chemotherapy agents and radiotherapy techniques.

Support:
Since our program is part of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, our patients have access to Patient/Family Support Services. To fully understand what this means, please take time to visit the For Cancer Center Patients area of this website. We outline the services available to our patients at every point in their care.

Make an appointment/referral to the Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Clinic

To make an appointment, please call 734-232-6046 (Monday-Friday, 8am-5:30pm EST). If you would like to refer a patient, please contact our M-Line service: 800-962-3555. For more information, visit our Make an Appointment web page.

Still have questions?

The nurses at Cancer AnswerLine™ have answers. Call 1-800-865-1125 and you'll get a personal response from one of our registered nurses, who have years of experience in caring for people with cancer.

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updated 05/2012

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See Also
going to a new websiteLung Cancer Screening Clinic

going to a new websiteLung Cancer Clinical Trials -on the UMClinicalStudies.org website