Single anesthetic event- biopsy to lung cancer treatment in one

A suspicious lung nodule can create weeks of waiting, testing, and uncertainty. IU Health Arnett’s Lung Nodule Program aims to change that by offering biopsy, diagnosis, and treatment during a single anesthetic event. “On average it takes 12 weeks from someone having a CT scan to seeing an oncologist… and in that time lung cancer can spread. We want to minimize that,” said Dr. Mehboob Kalani, critical care pulmonologist. “The benefit of this single anesthetic event is the time from diagnosis to treatment goes from 12 weeks to zero.”

Early detection is critical. Eligible patients (those who have smoked for 20 years or more) are encouraged to seek a low‑dose CT screening, increasing the chance of finding lung cancer early, when the possibility of a cure is highest.