First Comprehensive Lung Institute in Texas Offers Hope Along with World Class Team of Experts

Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center team accepting patients

Baylor College of Medicine and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center have developed the first comprehensive, multi-specialty Lung Institute in the state of Texas, with a team of specialists led by world renowned lung disease expert and surgeon Dr. David Sugarbaker.

From asthma to lung cancer, the Institute offers advanced technology and individualized treatment, backed by Baylor's top-ranked genetics program, to patients from all over the world. It is based at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, part of St. Luke’s Health, and is accepting patients now.

Sugarbaker moved from Boston to Houston in July to establish the Lung Institute. Lung patients from around the world now are being treated in Houston, and Texas patients have found the best care close to home.

“If you’ve been told you have a difficult case, this is where you come. Patients come to us based on the reputation of the Lung Institute team for providing hope as well as superb medical care in even the most difficult medical conditions,” said Sugarbaker, director of the Lung Institute and professor and chief of the division of general thoracic surgery at Baylor.

The Institute combines experts from more than a dozen pulmonary, surgery and related specialties at Baylor and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, and taps into the resources of Baylor’s internationally recognized genetics and genome sequencing programs.

This collaborative approach to treatment of lung disease means that patients are provided more options for a course of treatment. 

“Patients with lung cancer can be treated with minimally invasive surgical techniques that can be combined with innovative chemotherapy strategies and new genetic information to produce individualized care plans,” he said.

New treatments are available for asthma, including surgical procedures that work on the nervous system of the lung itself.  Mesothelioma is treated at the Lung Institute’s Mesothelioma Treatment Center, which attracts patients from around the world.

“The medical team at the Mesothelioma Treatment Center has developed novel delivery systems for chemotherapy agents to offer patients cutting edge, surgically-based therapies for this devastating disease.  By working together as one team, we bring a wealth of expertise to each patient treated at the Lung Institute,” Sugarbaker said.

Dr. Todd Rosengart, chair of surgery at Baylor, said, “We all are very excited to bring this new era of integrated health care delivery for the treatment of lung disease to the Houston metro area and to all of southeast Texas. The health and well-being of those afflicted with lung disease will significantly benefit from the wonderful care that will be provided by our Lung Institute team under the leadership of Dr. David Sugarbaker, a world class innovator in the treatment of lung cancer, mesothelioma and lung disease.” 
        
The specialties that are working together in the Lung Institute include medical oncology, pulmonary medicine, radiation oncology and radiology. The various programs participating include CHI’s Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, and Baylor and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center programs and centers, including cystic fibrosis, COPD and asthma, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis, sleep center, interstitial lung disease program, lung and heart transplant program, mesothelioma treatment center, minimally invasive thoracic surgery center, lung cancer program (part of Baylor’s NCI-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center), and the lung cancer screening program.

“The multidisciplinary approach coordinates the delivery of the many talents of the institute team to the patient at the most opportune time,” Sugarbaker said.

In addition, the Institute offers holistic care for patients and their families. Full time chaplaincy services, social workers, physical therapists, dieticians and patient navigators help patients and their families deal with the stress of illness. These efforts allow patients and their families to take an active role in their own care plans.

For appointments or more information on the Baylor College of Medicine Lung Institute at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, call 713-798-6376 or visit bcm.edu/LungInstitute.