Author: Danielle Hicks, Chief Patient Officer

Discovering that you have a lung nodule can be understandably scary. While they are common and can lead to lung cancer, most are not cancerous. According to October’s Living Room speaker Dr. Anthony Lanfranco from the University of Pennsylvania, even those that do turn out to be lung cancer can often be effectively treated if you follow your doctor’s monitoring advice and act quickly if needed.

In this Living Room episode, Dr. Lanfranco, an interventional pulmonologist, explained what lung nodules are, how they are biopsied, what determines if they are cancerous and why screening is so important to find, diagnose and treat these nodules early.

Dr. Lanfranso was also joined by his patient, lung cancer survivor Terri Ann DiJulio, who shared her incredible story of being diagnosed three times with lung cancer as well as being one of six family members diagnosed with the disease.. Terri Ann had a lot of advice to share with others facing a lung cancer diagnosis, including urging patients to educate and empower themselves so they can best participate in decision-making with their care teams.

Please enjoy our conversation with Dr. Lanfranco and Terri Ann here.

Speaker: Anthony R. Lanfranco, MD, Director, Interventional Pulmonary Fellowship Program, Section of Interventional Pulmonology and Thoracic Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania

Highlights from the October 2022 episode of the Living Room: 

  • Doctor’s look at four different features to determine if a lung nodule is concerning:
    1. Margins or edges
    2. Density
    3. Size
    4. Consistency
  • The prospect of a lung biopsy may feel frightening at first, but understanding the types of biopsies and what to expect can help you to make the right decision along with your care team. Which biopsy is right for you may be determined by your overall lung health, your ability to tolerate surgery, and the accessibility of the nodule.
  • If you are at risk for lung cancer, getting screened is the best thing you can do learn about your lung health and to discover any nodules or cancer as early as possible.
  • If a lung nodule has been found on one of your scans or if you have been diagnosed with lung cancer, these 29 questions to ask your health care provider may help to guide your conversation and decision making. (scroll to page 7 of the handbook linked)

Please also join us on YouTube for next month’s Lung Cancer Living Room on November 15th at 5:30pm PT for a conversation with GO2’s Director of Community Engaged Research Shanada Monestime, in the first of a two-part series on health equity.

For more information on GO2 for Lung Cancer’s programs or for support through diagnosis and treatment, please call the HelpLine at 1-800-298-2436 or email support@go2foundation.org.

We are excited to bring you more stories about GO2 for Lung Cancer’s patient programs and support services, including the Living Room, HelpLine, LungMatch, and Phone Buddy.. If you have ideas on topics or stories you’d like to read about here, please email yourcommunity@go2.org.