The Thoracic Surgery Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Our plain-English summary of The Thoracic Surgery Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, by V.W. Rusch (Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2015).

The study

• Author: V.W. Rusch
• Journal: Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
• Published: 2015;27(4):403-9
• Type of article: Historical article
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The development of the Thoracic Surgery Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center paralleled the emergence of Thoracic Surgery as a specialty, but with the unique focus on oncology and multidisciplinary cancer care characteristic of the institution. From the early post-war years treating lung cancer with new surgical techniques, through early definitive work in malignant mesothelioma, to today's translational research in cancer biology, the Thoracic Surgery Service continues to be an international leader in educating surgeons in thoracic surgical oncology, conducting clinical trials, and developing innovative therapies to treat thoracic cancers.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This article is an institutional history, not a research study. The author, a member and former Chief of the Thoracic Service, described the development of the Thoracic Surgery Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. It covers the Service's founding in 1939 through 2015 and draws on an internal monograph by a former Chief, Dr Nael Martini, for the early years. The article does not discuss asbestos or asbestos exposure. Its mentions of mesothelioma are brief. The author wrote that Dr Martini standardized care for mesothelioma. The author also wrote that the Service contributed to revising the staging systems for mesothelioma, worked with other departments on molecular changes in mesothelioma and lung cancer, and that the center increasingly became a center of excellence for malignant mesothelioma. A CAR T-cell therapy program for lung cancer and mesothelioma had recently moved from the laboratory to a clinical trial. The author stated that space did not permit listing the Service's hundreds of publications and that only a few were cited.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Institutional history article (narrative account, not a research study)
• Who was studied: The Thoracic Surgery Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and its surgeons, from its formation in 1939 to 2015
• Exposure: None; the article does not discuss asbestos or any exposure
• Main results:
  • In 1939, Dr William Watson was asked to develop a Thoracic Service. Lung cancer cases then rose to an average of about 250 per year.
  • The author wrote that Dr Nael Martini, as Chief, standardized care for mesothelioma.
  • The author wrote that the Service contributed data and leadership to revising international staging systems, including for mesothelioma.
  • With Pathology and Thoracic Medical Oncology, the Service studied molecular changes in mesothelioma and lung cancer, starting with EGFR mutations.
  • According to the author, the center increasingly became a center of excellence for malignant mesothelioma through translational and clinical research.
  • A CAR T-cell therapy program for lung cancer and mesothelioma had recently moved from the laboratory to a clinical trial.
  • Of the 15 graduates of the Service's thoracic track residency, all but one held full-time academic faculty positions and 11 were Division Chiefs or Department Chairs.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the Service continues to try to provide training for the next generation of general thoracic surgeons and to develop new therapies for cancer patients.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Space did not allow listing the Service's hundreds of publications; only a few are cited.
  • The account of the early years relies on an internal monograph built from interviews with veteran surgeons.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Thoracic Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Clinical Trial.

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Browse more research in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, or return to medical research.