This is another example of how we're bringing advanced, patient-centered thoracic cancer care to our region.
Dana M. Ferrari-Light, DO, MPHDartmouth Cancer Center achieved a significant advancement in lung cancer care by performing its first combined robotic lung procedure under a single anesthesia. This milestone involved specialists from thoracic surgery and interventional pulmonology collaborating to enhance patient outcomes.
During the procedure, physicians used robotic bronchoscopy—a minimally invasive technique offering precise airway navigation—to locate a 7-millimeter lung nodule. The team successfully biopsied and marked the nodule with dye, facilitating its removal without removing additional lung tissue. Subsequently, surgeons employed robotic-assisted surgery to excise the targeted lung area.
This integrated approach, known as single anesthesia bronchoscopy and resection (SABR), is now available through Dartmouth Cancer Center's Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology Program. This method provides several patient, benefits including reduced anesthesia exposure, precise tissue removal, preservation of healthy lung tissue, and real-time diagnosis and treatment.
"This is another example of how we're bringing advanced, patient-centered thoracic cancer care to our region," said thoracic surgeon Dana M. Ferrari-Light, DO, MPH, who participated in the procedure. "It reflects not only the technology we have but how closely our specialists work together, that we could integrate seamlessly into the same operating room."
By expanding innovative, team-based approaches like SABR, Dartmouth Cancer Center ensures that patients north of Boston have access to advanced lung cancer care and technology typically found in major cities, without the need to travel far from home.
Ferrari-Light worked side-by-side with interventional pulmonologist David J. Feller-Kopman, MD. “This procedure really highlights our multi-disciplinary efforts to ensure that our patients are receiving the best possible care,” said Feller-Kopman, referring to Dartmouth Cancer Center’s highly trained, highly experienced surgical team, advanced practice providers, and administrative staff. “Their coordination and ability to collaborate across specialties make it possible to seamlessly combine complex procedures in one setting—ensuring everything runs smoothly from start to finish.”
About Dartmouth Cancer Center
Dartmouth Cancer Center combines advanced cancer research at Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, with award-winning, personalized, and compassionate patient-centered cancer care and clinical trials based at the Norris Cotton Cancer Care Pavilion at Dartmouth Health's Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. With 14 locations around New Hampshire and Vermont, Dartmouth Cancer Center is one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Each year the Dartmouth Cancer Center schedules 74,000 appointments seeing more than 4,500 newly diagnosed patients, and currently offers patients more than 240 active clinical trials. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, Dartmouth Cancer Center remains committed to excellence, outreach and education. We strive to prevent and cure cancer, enhance survivorship and to promote cancer health equity through pioneering interdisciplinary research and collaborations. Learn more at the Dartmouth Cancer Center website.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.