ASAP model reduces early lung cancer treatment to one day

Editor's Note

Sutter Health’s San Francisco-based California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) has reduced early lung cancer treatment to just 1 day with the help of robotic-assisted bronchoscopy technology, Becker’s Hospital Review February 23 reports.

The Assisted Single Anesthetic Procedure (ASAP) allows for multiple procedures to be performed in succession during a single surgery, significantly increasing the speed of diagnosis and treatment. The surgical team biopsies suspicious masses, immediately sends specimens to pathology, and determines if cancer is present within 15 minutes. If it is, the patient is transitioned into a second minimally invasive robotic or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery to remove it while remaining under anesthesia.

Previously, treatment plans occurred over weeks and multiple visits. The ASAP model offers earlier recovery, fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays. Patients are discharged within 48 to 72 hours post-surgery.

 “CPMC is the first hospital in San Francisco to offer this streamlined approach with robotic-assisted bronchoscopy,” said Dr Heba Ismail, director of CPMC’s lung cancer program. CPMC has completed nearly one dozen procedures, with more scheduled.