Harry
D'Agostino, MD

By Harry J. D'Agostino, Jr., MD, FACS,
and Octavio Pajaro, MD, PhD,
Jacksonville Medicine Guest Editors

Octavio Pajaro, MD

The first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer was performed in 1933 by Dr. Evarts A.Graham of St. Louis. Although the patient had involvement of hilar lymph nodes, he survived for almost thirty years (and outlived his surgeon). Graham published one of the first reports linking lung cancer with cigarette smoking. He also died of the disease in 1957. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer for men and women. It's a sobering thought that the overall survival rate for cancer of the lung has not changed in the past twenty years—even more so when we recognize that that it is also the most preventable of all life-threatening cancers.

This issue of Jacksonville Medicine is devoted to lung cancer, in particular, non-small cell lung cancer. The purpose is to acquaint our readership with some of the newer aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of this deadly disease. It is especially important for us because Jacksonville has achieved a high ranking in new cases of lung cancer diagnosed annually.

Here is the scenario. Dr. Kevin Wolfe shows us the epidemiology of lung cancer for the North Florida region, based on his own extensive detective work. We then feature a discussion by Dr. Omer Burnett on the use of PET scanning in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

Dr. Pajaro reviews the role of thoracoscopy, and Dr. D'Agostino reviews some of the controversies surrounding lung cancer surgery.

Dr. Randal Henderson and colleagues describe some of the newest aspects of radiotherapy, followed by a discussion by Dr. Elizabeth Johnson on chemotherapeutic treatment.

Finally, Louise Gibson and Lynnette Kennison give an overview of techniques for smoking cessation and how to effectively integrate this necessary piece into the larger whole of preventing this deadly disease.

Jacksonville has achieved many honors, including hosting a Super Bowl, and being voted one of the nation's most livable cities. It appears that we are also a lung cancer capital of the nation. We must work diligently in order to relinquish that title.

Jacksonville Medicine

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