Non-small cell lung cancer

A non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis is never easy. But you don’t have to face it alone. Our team of lung cancer experts has decades of experience helping people navigate this diagnosis. Through treatments tailored to your DNA and nurse navigators that help you overcome challenges, we make sure every moment counts.

We offer the full range of standard treatments for non-small cell lung cancer, along with newer treatments through clinical trials. Some are administered alone or in combination with other therapies. Treatment may include:

• Watchful waiting: Watchful waiting, or expectant management, means doctors closely watch your condition. They do not give any treatment until symptoms appear or change. This approach is taken in certain rare cases of non-small cell lung cancer.
• Targeted therapy: Targeted therapy uses powerful drugs to shrink and prevent the growth of cancer cells. These drugs are matched to each tumor after genetic tests. Our experts developed a simple blood test, called liquid biopsy, that can collect this information. Targeted therapies for lung cancer are usually taken in pill form.
• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells by removing them or stopping them from dividing.
• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy, also known as biotherapy or biologic immunotherapy, uses your own immune system to fight cancer. Immunotherapy drugs boost, direct, or restore the body’s natural defenses against cancer.
• Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy removes cancer cells with intense energy. Our treatment options include proton therapy (a precise form of radiation) and stereotactic radiotherapy. Our doctors were among the first to bring stereotactic radiotherapy to the southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.
• Surgery: We have developed new surgical procedures to treat previously inoperable lung cancers. Our surgeons help you evaluate the risks and benefits of all our options, including advanced lung-sparing and minimally invasive procedures.
• Clinical trials: We are studying new combinations of treatments in clinical trials. Clinical trials help improve current treatments and develop new ones. We have clinical trials available for almost every patient who wants to participate.

Our lung cancer team includes nurse navigators with special expertise in non-small cell lung cancer. This training helps them anticipate your needs, getting you the right care and support fast. We also provide: 

• Expert care close to home: We make sure you’re able to get the care you need where it’s most convenient, including chemotherapy, radiation, and postoperative appointments.
• Experience: We see more lung cancer patients than any other health system in the southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey region. We use this experience to provide you with safe, effective care. Research shows that treatment at high-volume centers leads to better outcomes for lung cancer patients.
• Coordinated care: Our lung cancer specialists have regular formal and informal meetings about your care. These meetings mean that the entire team weighs in on treatment decisions. They can also quickly adjust your treatment plan if there’s an issue or you would benefit from a different treatment. 
• Personalized treatments: Our pulmonary pathologists perform genetic tests on tumors. These tests identify changes in tumor DNA (molecular targets) that make it grow uncontrollably. If you have a molecular target, we can match the right targeted molecular therapy to the specific cancer.