Thoracic Cancer Care

When you’re a patient at Swedish, we don’t just treat your cancer – we treat you. We use the most advanced treatments to create a highly personalized care plan. We also support you and your loved ones with a full range of services throughout your entire cancer journey. The result is effective, whole-person care for your body, mind and spirit.

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Phone: 1-855-XCANCER

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Why Choose Swedish for Your Thoracic Cancer Care?

At Swedish, we see the life in you. Together, let’s finish cancer – so you don’t have to miss any of life’s special moments.

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No two patients, or their treatment plans, are alike. This is why, at Swedish, we take a highly personalized approach to your thoracic cancer care. You’ll experience this through our multidisciplinary tumor boards, where your oncology team collaborates with other cancer care experts about your specific diagnosis. We also offer a Molecular Tumor Board, where we evaluate your genomic and clinical information to find the best genetically matched treatment for you. Your oncology team will work with you directly to design a treatment plan that fits your personal needs. It’s an approach that combines leading-edge treatment with the compassionate care Swedish is known for. Why? Because we know this results in the best outcomes.

As a patient, you’ll be supported through your entire cancer journey by a multidisciplinary cancer care team. You’ll be treated by board-certified medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and pulmonologists. You also may be treated by one of over 100 physicians with thoracic and/or cardiothoracic surgery specialties. If surgery is required, our world-class surgeons use the most advanced techniques, including robotic and video-assisted surgery. It’s a team-based approach to thoracic cancer care. Your care team may also include oncology nurse navigators, counselors and other cancer specialists. We also provide you and your family with a full range of support services well beyond conventional treatment, from genetic counseling and education to nutrition and pain management.

Learn more about the experts who make up our multidisciplinary cancer care teams.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but access to great thoracic cancer care hasn’t always been the same for everyone. At Swedish, we are deeply committed to making sure every patient we treat has access to the best cancer care. We offer various location-specific services to help our patients receive equitable care, such as translation for non-English-speaking patients, telehealth and transportation assistance. We value, respect and support the racial, ethnic, religious, spiritual, gender, and sexual identities of each member of our diverse communities, and we welcome all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. We aim to make sure every patient is treated equally and with dignity – whoever you are, and wherever you’re at.

At any given time, the Swedish Cancer Institute offers patients more than 140 clinical-research studies involving most types of cancers. Clinical trials give patients access to promising new medications and procedures before they are widely available. Such trials are also the primary way that progress is made in finding better approaches to treatment and cure. Additionally, our physician specialists collaborate with other regional and national research groups, including Southwest Oncology Group, National Cancer Institute, Puget Sound Oncology Consortium and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

About Thoracic Cancer

Thoracic cancers form in the chest and include cancers of the lungs, the windpipe and the thymus. The expert oncology teams at Swedish use the most effective therapies to treat patients with every type of thoracic cancer and its related conditions, including:

Testing and Diagnostics

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Diagnostic tools help our cancer clinicians determine which therapies will work best for each patient, based on many factors like cancer type and the genetic or molecular profile of the tumor. Your doctors will use multiple advanced diagnostic and prognostic tools to help design your individualized treatment plan, including:

  • Biopsy
  • Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy
  • Genetics and genomics
  • MRI
  • PET/CT scan

Personalized Treatment for Thoracic Cancer

We take a team approach to your thoracic cancer treatment because we know this offers the best success in controlling and curing cancer. Your multidisciplinary cancer care team will work with you to design an individualized cancer care plan, from diagnosis to post-treatment support. We offer many different therapies across our Swedish locations. Depending on your condition, your personal care plan may include one or more of the following:

Systemic Therapies Surgical Therapies Radiation Therapy
Systemic Therapies

Systemic therapies travel through the bloodstream and affect cells in other body parts. They are used for patients whose cancer has spread to other areas of the body or if there’s a high risk of spread. Sophisticated genetic analysis allows us to target therapies to specific DNA mutations that cause cancer cells to develop and grow. Systemic therapies include:

  • Chemotherapy
  • Clinical trials
  • Immunotherapy
  • Molecularly targeted therapy

Surgical therapies involve an operation or procedure to remove cancer from the body. Surgery may be the main treatment for some invasive cancers, but it’s only one part of the entire treatment plan. Surgical therapies include:

  • Pleuroscopy Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Staging endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Wedge resection - robotic Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Wedge resection - video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Lobectomy - lung
  • Open lung wedge resection
  • Open thoracic surgery
  • Pneumonectomy
  • Segmentectomy
  • Sleeve lobectomy
  • Video mediastinoscopy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation from a source like X-rays or photons to kill cancer cells or shrink tumors. It may be part of a treatment plan that also includes systemic therapies and/or surgery. Radiation is sometimes used to help ease a patient’s pain or discomfort. Radiation therapies include:

  • Brachytherapy Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Hemithoracic radiation
  • Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT/SGIRT) Note: This advanced therapy is not available at all Swedish locations.
  • Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT)

Find Thoracic Cancer Care Close to You

Accreditations

We are proud to see our dedication to our cancer patients recognized by some of the most well-respected programs and institutions in the United States. Several of our Swedish locations have achieved the following accreditations:

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Meet the Team

At Swedish, you'll have access to a vast network of dedicated and compassionate providers who offer personalized care by focusing on treatment, prevention and health education.

Find Clinical Trials

Are you looking for a clinical trial for yourself or for a patient? We’d love to help you find one!

Learn more about clinical trials
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