New Treatments for Lung Cancer in Richmond, KY

New Treatments for Lung Cancer in Richmond, KY Health Talk Transcript

Firas Badin, MD, Hematology & Oncology
Baptist Health Richmond

Firas Badin, MD:

Lung cancer causes more deaths than breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer, all combined together. Unfortunately, Kentucky still leads the nation in the incidence of lung cancer. Lung cancer treatment has changed dramatically over the last few years. We used to count on chemotherapy, and nowadays, we are moving away from chemotherapy and trying to use newer treatments, such as immunotherapy or targeted therapy.

Targeted therapy is treatment that works on a certain target. We have to do appropriate testing, trying to find certain gene abnormalities. If you look at adenocarcinoma in particular, more than half of those patients could have a driver mutation we can attack with a cancer pill.

Immunotherapy works on our own immune system, activating our own immune cells to fight and kill cancer cells. One study after another is showing remarkable results with immunotherapy drugs. As a matter of fact, even for advanced stage disease, we are able to help those patients. More than 1 in 5 patients are still alive with advanced stage disease at four years.

We are very proud of our care at Baptist Richmond. We take pride in our cancer center. We work on a multidisciplinary team. Myself and my colleagues are really dedicated to our patients to help support them right here in Madison County. They don't have to travel and go anywhere else.