The Treatment of Chest Wall Tumors

The Lacks Advantage. There is strong scientific research that indicates patients have better outcomes when chest wall resections are performed by specially trained thoracic surgeons with significant experience at high volume centers of excellence, such as The Lacks Cancer Center.

Chest Wall Tumor Treatment. Chest wall tumors are uncommon, yet with proper diagnosis and management, they are treatable. Primary treatments include surgical removal of the tumors with possible radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of both. Surgical methods such as a chest resection may involve the removal of the tumor as well as 4 centimeters of the surrounding healthy tissue including any attached structures that are affected by the disease like the lung, thymus, chest wall muscle or pericardium (the sac of fibrous tissue that surrounds the heart). After the procedure the chest wall will be reconstructed with prosthetic material and/or rotated muscle flaps.

Radiation Therapy. The goal of radiation therapy is to kill cancer cells while harming as little normal tissue as possible. This therapy may be used before, during and/or after chemotherapy, and is delivered in one of two ways—depending on the type and stage of cancer being treated. Radiation can either be administered to the affected area(s) from outside the body or, in other instances, inserted through a needle or catheter into or near the cancer.

Chemotherapy. This treatment uses potent drugs to eradicate, shrink, slow the growth of, or prevent cancer from spreading. Typically, a combination of drugs is administered intravenously (directly into the veins) in a series of treatments over a period of weeks or months, with breaks in-between so that the patient’s body can recover.

Seek the most aggressive treatments available from our Multidisciplinary Lung Clinic with a referral from your primary care physician or with a self-referral by calling 1-877-LACKS-MI or 616-752-LACK(S).