McLaren Port Huron, part of McLaren Health Care and the leading St. Clair County health care provider, has expanded its offerings and enhanced its abilities to detect and diagnose lung cancer during its earliest stages.
With the addition of the Ion platform, a minimally invasive and robotic-assisted bronchoscope procedure, physicians can view deeper into the lungs and biopsy smaller, previously unreachable suspicious nodules in the peripheral tissue, allowing them to accurately diagnose if the nodule is benign or cancerous and begin treatment before the disease begins to advance.
“With the detection of a suspicious mass deep within the lungs, we can now take a much more proactive approach in a situation we previously would have had to monitor,” said Dr. Vasken Artinian, a critical care pulmonologist at McLaren Port Huron. “Should it unfortunately be a cancer diagnosis, this early detection allows us to begin a treatment plan before the cancer has advanced, spread, or caused further complications.”
One of the most common forms of cancer worldwide, more than 90 percent of lung cancer patients do not survive the disease, in part because cases are diagnosed in an advanced stage. More than 70 percent of lung cancer cases originate in the peripheral tissue.
“The early stages of lung cancer do not typically present with symptoms, which is one of the reasons it’s the leading cause of worldwide cancer deaths,” said Dr. Justin Klamerus, McLaren Health Care Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer. “With this technology’s ability to biopsy the deep tissue of the lungs, this holds the potential to allow us to diagnose cases earlier, and we’re excited to be able to offer this measure of hope to our patients.”
The technology integrates with McLaren Port Huron’s advanced imaging capabilities to create a 3D model of the patient’s specific lung anatomy, assisting the physician’s navigation. Guided by the physician, the Ion’s thin and maneuverable catheter is directed to the nodule for biopsy.
Part of the Karmanos Cancer Network, the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Port Huron is the region’s leading provider of cancer care, providing patients with access to advanced diagnostic, treatments, surgeries, and clinical trials to bolster their fight against cancer.
Learn more about all services provided at McLaren Port Huron at mclaren.org/porthuron.
About McLaren Port Huron
McLaren Port Huron is a 186-bed non-profit hospital located in Port Huron, Michigan, with a strong history of providing quality, compassionate care to residents living in St. Clair and Sanilac counties. It has earned repeated recognition for both clinical excellence and patient safety from nationally renowned health care rating organizations. McLaren Port Huron provides a full range of services, including cardiovascular care, award-winning cancer services through the Karmanos Cancer Institute, orthopedic services, and general, bariatric and robotic-assisted surgeries. The hospital is nationally verified as a Level III Trauma Center and operates the busiest Emergency Department in St. Clair County. Other services include family birthing services and the only accredited sleep center in the region. In addition to its main campus in Port Huron, the hospital operates community health centers in Marysville, Yale, Lexington, and St. Clair. Learn more at mclaren.org/porthuron.
About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a $6.6 billion, fully integrated health care delivery system committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 13 hospitals in Michigan, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, a 490-member employed primary and specialty care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 732,838 lives in Michigan and Indiana, home health, infusion and hospice providers, pharmacy services, a clinical laboratory network and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Karmanos Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S. McLaren has 28,000 full-, part-time and contracted employees and more than 113,000 network providers throughout Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Learn more at mclaren.org.