When “More Treatment” Isn’t Better: A Stage II Lung Cancer Case
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Originally aired: December 16, 2025
A man in his late 60s enters a lung cancer screening program and is found to have a 4.5 cm tumor—stage II by size, with high-stakes decisions ahead. The case seems to point toward modern perioperative therapy, until biomarker testing changes everything. In this episode, host Lisa Moores, MD, FCCP, is joined by CHEST Guideline Chair John Howington, MD, MBA, FCCP, and oncologist Natasha Leighl, MD, to show how multidisciplinary care—and molecular results—can reroute the entire treatment journey.
They discuss why nodal staging matters, when perioperative therapy improves outcomes, and how biomarker-driven choices can reshape the safest path, while still leaving room for shared decision-making.
The information discussed in this episode is based on Management of Patients With Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: An American College of Chest Physicians Clinical Practice Guideline, published in the journal CHEST®.
This is the third of three episodes on CHEST guideline recommendations in lung cancer.
EPISODE 1 » | EPISODE 2 »
HOST
Lisa Moores, MD, FCCP
PANELISTS
Guideline Chair: John Howington, MD, MBA, FCCP
Case Guest: Natasha Leighl, MD