Thomas Bauer II, MD: Take a Multidisciplinary Approach to Managing Lung Cancer

When treating and managing patients with lung cancer, a multidisciplinary approach should be employed, according to Thomas Bauer II, MD.

This was one of Dr Bauer’s key messages during his keynote session, “A Multidisciplinary Approach to Managing Lung Cancer,” at the American Lung Association’s LUNGFORCE Expo 2019.

Thomas Bauer II, MD, is the clinical medical director of oncology at Hackensack Meridian Health; medical director of thoracic oncology at Hackensack Meridian Health Cancer Care of Monmouth and Ocean Counties; and chief of thoracic surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey.

In his session, he spoke about who is included in his multidisciplinary team—including a medical oncologist, oncologist, surgeon, nutritionist, radiologist, and psychiatrist—as well as the importance of having the whole team in the same place when managing patients with lung cancer.

Screening

When employing a multidisciplinary approach for managing patients with lung cancer, multiple tests can be ordered at once. However, if multiple tests are not needed, a multidisciplinary team will be able to determine that quicker, saving the patient time and money. Dr Bauer referred to this as the “economy of services.”

Lung cancer is curable in many patients, even those with stage III or IV cancer. Early detection is key, though is often difficult. Low-dose computed tomography (CT) scanning is recommended for all high-risk patients, but there are other screening methods to use as well, including blood, sputum, and breath tests. Dr Bauer also spoke about an ongoing blood biomarker study, which may also help detect lung cancer sooner.

Smoking Cessation

During his session, Dr Bauer said that he encourages patients who smoke to quit before starting lung cancer treatment. However, some patients do not follow this advice and continue smoking during treatment. A takeaway message Dr Bauer drove home, though, was that patients can quit at any point during the treatment process and that patients should never lose hope to quit smoking.

Smoking is a global health crisis, especially for first-world countries. And when US tobacco companies started selling their products overseas, the problem became more widespread. Dr Bauer said that US tobacco companies spend billions of dollars on marketing each year (domestically and internationally), and millions of dollars are spent on health care costs for treating lung cancer and other smoking-relation illnesses.

Dr Bauer also spoke about how the Budget Control Act of 2011 caps discretionary spending, including health care costs. The budget control cap has been in decline over the past few years and does not seem to be changing.

For more about Dr Bauer’s session, watch our video interview with him here.

—Amanda Balbi