Treating - and preventing - lung cancer

Ask The Expert Dr. Gavin Henry St. Agnes Hospital

Quit smoking - that is the No. 1 thing to do. If you have had a significant history of smoking and you stop, there is still a risk of getting lung cancer. But the risk goes significantly down if you quit smoking and there is a 10-year-gap without smoking.

What do you tell your patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer?

That it is not necessarily the end of the world. I am a chest surgeon, so my job is to try to take [the cancer] out. If they come to me, that usually means the primary doctor has sent them, and the cancer is in an earlier stage. If you are in my office, there is a good chance we can [remove the cancer] and the survival rate goes up. But it is hard to predict for people how they are going to do.

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest cancers we have, and it has a stigma because people often feel that they have done this to themselves by smoking. It is unlike other cancers in this regard.

Anything you want the public to know?

That this is the deadliest cancer and if you are smoking or have had significant secondary smoke [exposure], don't hesitate to call your primary care doctor to get screened. Especially if you have been smoking for a while. More and more hospitals are offering screenings just like they do for breast cancer or prostate cancer. And if it were my family, I would recommend it.

Holly Selby is a former reporter and editor for The Baltimore Sun.