What is Lung Suffusion?

Clinical Pearls

Todd Demmy, MD, clinical chair, Department of Thoracic Surgery, professor of oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, describes lung suffusion. Read more aboutlung suffusion > >

• "Lung suffusion" was developed and coined by researchers at RPCI.
• This procedure involves making small incisions, stopping blood flow to one lung, draining blood from the lung, and filling it with chemotherapy.
• The idea behind this procedure is that a safe dose of chemotherapy can be amplified up to 20x and focused to the area of the tumor only.
• Lung suffusion is less risky and invasive compared to using a big incision and a heart-lung machine to circulate chemotherapy.