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COVER FEATURE At Treatment Lung cancer accounts for a large portion of the program's patient volume. As Dr. Chin explains, the specialists are so focused on providing care for the disease because of its stag- gering impact on the adult patient population: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the world and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women, outranking breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest data, 208,493 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States in 2008. In the White Plains Hospital thoracic surgery program, the A portion of the White Plains Hospital thoracic surgical team, including experienced physician assistants and operating room nurses patient's airway — without making an incision — and perform fine-needle aspiration biopsy with an ultrasound endoscope. In cancer cases, an EBUS can assist in properly staging the cancer for an appropriate course of therapy. Once a final diagnosis has been made, specialists in the tho- racic surgery program collaborate, both informally and formally, with physicians from a variety of other disciplines. Every other week, Drs. Chin and Weiser join medical oncologists, primary care physicians, pulmonologists, radiation oncologists and gastroenterologists in a multidisciplinary thoracic conference. A board-certified pathologist reviews patients' pathology specimens, and a radiologist is on hand to examine imaging studies. Together, these specialists discuss each patient who has undergone or is preparing for surgery. This conference occurs in addition to a weekly multidisciplinary cancer conference covering patients with all types of cancers. incorporation of minimally invasive techniques is crucial to patients' overall care. Dr. Chin trained at both Mount Sinai Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh with two pioneers who explored esophagus and lung resections in the recently developed arena of VATS. The technology enables surgeons to access the inside of the chest cavity and achieve the same results as a traditional open surgery through inci- sions that are less than a tenth of the size of that required in open surgery. In the past, when performing a procedure such as a lobec- tomy, surgeons made a 10-inch incision along the side of the chest, divided the muscles and removed the malignant portion of the lung. Patients would transition from the operating room to the ICU and then remain in the hospital for five to seven days. They could require pain medication for four to six weeks and be in recovery for a comparable amount of time. When employing VATS, Drs. Chin and Weiser create an incision smaller than 1 inch in the side of the chest for the video camera. They then make two equally small incisions in Drs. Weiser and Chin perform minimally invasive video-assisted lobectomy for lung cancer. This operation is completed through three small incisions, enabling quicker recovery and a shorter hospital stay when compared to traditional approaches.