Increased use of low-dose CT scans to detect smaller nodules in the lungs is prompting more use of a less invasive procedure to determine if nodules are cancerous.
Called Ion Robotic Assisted Bronchoscopy, the procedure is done with a patient under general anesthesia. Carle Health providers use software to analyze the CT and draw a map of the patient’s lungs and airways. Through this map, the physician pinpoints the nodule and the best way to reach it without going through as many layers of tissue as a normal biopsy.
“It allows us to intervene with patients quickly. We can reach any nodule larger than 8 millimeters (5/16 of an inch),” Ahmed Agameya, MD, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Carle Health Methodist Hospital said.
For his patient Cathy Geier, the diagnostic procedure provided answers she needed. She said a low-dose scan in 2022 detected a nodule in her upper left lung lobe near the aortic arch, which delivers blood to the head and upper extremities. The concern about doing a regular biopsy was possibly puncturing the aortic arch, she said.
At that time, she followed a clinical recommendation to wait and see if the nodule grew and quit her habit of smoking about five cigarettes a day.
“As soon as I found out I had a nodule in my lung, I threw those cigarettes away,” Geier said.
She saw Dr. Agameya – the sole pulmonologist performing the procedure at Carle Health Methodist Hospital and in the Peoria/Pekin area - talking about Ion Robotic Assisted Bronchoscopy during a media interview in January 2024 and she spoke with him in February about using the method to biopsy her nodule to determine if cancer was present.
“Without a biopsy, it was do nothing and take my chances or have radiation treatments,” Geier said.
Thanks to support from the American Cancer Society and the NFL Crucial Catch program, Carle Health is proud to offer no-cost lung cancer screenings. Any community member is welcome from 8 a.m. to noon, Nov. 9 at Carle Health Pekin Hospital, 600 S. 13th St., Pekin and at Carle Health Proctor Hospital, 5409 N. Knoxville Ave., Peoria.
The United States Preventative Services Task Force recommends lung cancer screening for patients aged 50 and older who smoked for 20 pack years (one pack per day for 20 years). The use of ION Robotic Assisted Bronchoscopy is one way Carle Health works to improve lung cancer outcomes by detecting cancer at a very early stage.
Geier’s biopsy results showed the nodule to be cancerous so she had surgery to remove it. “They caught it early. From biopsy to surgery, things moved very fast,” she said.
Dr. Agameya said the first step is having the CT scan. Lung cancer is the No. 1 cause of cancer-related deaths. When a patient experiences symptoms, it is usually at stage 3 or 4 and much more difficult to treat, he said. More people die of lung cancer every year than breast, prostate and colon cancer diagnoses combined.
Geier said, “I adopted the mindset that if this needs to be done, the doctors are the experts. Do not believe random stuff posted on the internet. Do your screenings and ask questions.”
For more information about Carle Health free lung cancer screening events, call (309) 672-3189.
Categories: Redefining Healthcare, Community
Tags: cancer, Carle, Health, Hospital, lung, Methodist, Pekin, Peoria