Volume 5, Number 1

Michael D Peake, Editor

Over the last eight to ten years there has been a welcome burgeoning interest in, and awareness of, patients’ experiences of lung cancer care. Until recently, this has been largely focused on the referral, diagnostic and treatment phases of care. Over this traumatic period most units are now able to provide a high standard of support for patients and, to a lesser extent, carers, mostly by specialist nurses.

Giles Cox FRCP MD Respiratory Consultant; Alys Burton MBBS Specialist Registrar; Nicola J Burrows MRCP Specialist Registrar; Nabeel J Ali FRCP DM Respiratory Consultant, Department of Respiratory Medicine, King’s Mill Hospital, Nottinghamshire

Thoracoscopy was first developed in 1910, to divide pleural adhesions in tuberculosis (TB) and allow induction of an artificial pneumothorax. After the discovery of effective anti-TB treatment, the use of thoracoscopy began to decline, although several centres in Europe continued its use in the diagnosis and treatment of pleural disease.

Shaun Tolan MB BCh MRCP FRCR Clinical Research Fellow in Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada; Paul Burt MB BCh FRCP FRCR Consultant in Clinical Oncology, Christie Hospital, Manchester; Max Winson MB BCh BSc FRCP Consultant in General and Respiratory Medicine, Leighton Hospital, Cheshire

A 74-year-old man presented with dysphasia and was thought to have had a stroke. His past medical history included infective endocarditis and subsequent mitral valve replacement. He had never smoked and had worked as a university lecturer for 30 years, and before that he was a research chemist. He could not recall any exposure to asbestos. On examination, he had expressive dysphasia but no other neurological signs. His chest radiograph revealed a large mediastinal mass and a left-sided pleural effusion.

Antonia Ugar MBBS F1 Doctor; Edward Black MBBS BSc FRCS(CTh) Consultant Thoracic Surgeon, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nottingham City Hospital; Elaine Teh BMBS MRCS Cardiothoracic Specialist Registrar, The London Chest Hospital

Pancoast tumours, also known as superior sulcus tumours, are a subset of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) located specifically in the thoracic inlet or cervical region of the lung. The bronchogenic origin of NSCLCs led to the basic definition of a Pancoast tumour being ‘a bronchial carcinoma in the apex of the lung’.

Nicola Bell BSc(Hons) Dip Pall Care RGN DN Macmillan Lung Nurse Specialist; Vera Davison Diploma Physiotherapy (Belgium) SRP MCSP Physiotherapist Team Leader; Maggie Peat PhD BA RN Research Nurse, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust Harrogate District Hospital

There has been little exploration of how follow-up after curative surgery for lung cancer affects outcomes for patients. Responding to information received from patients through patient stories, the Lung Cancer Service Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust trialled a joint nursing- and physiotherapy-led intervention to provide more formal support for these patients. Some, but not all, of the patient concerns were allayed after the intervention.

Steve Williamson PGDip Onc MRPharmS Consultant Pharmacist in Cancer Services, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Melanie Hall RN BSc(Hons) MSc Oncology Nurse Consultant Oncology, Lead Nurse Cancer Services, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

The majority of anticancer medicines (ACMs) for solid tumours have traditionally been given intravenously. Historically, with the exception of haematological malignancies, very few of the available ACMs were suitable for oral administration and most chemotherapy was supplied as ready-to-administer intravenous (IV) products prepared by specially trained pharmacy staff. The use of oral ACMs offers advantages to patients and healthcare professionals and can free nurse time and ease capacity pressures.