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The Regional Center for Complex Airway Disease Management
Maine's leader in lung cancer therapy and diagnosis.

	Mark Lund, MD, is the Regional Center's Director

The Regional Center for Complex Airway Disease Management treats patients with airway diseases of various benign and malignant origins. Usually our patients suffer from malignant disease with central airway obstruction, but there are other diseases, conditions and symptoms also managed by interventional pulmonology. The majority of our cancer-related therapies are to help relieve the suffering a patient feels from the disease.

Symptoms or signs of airway obstruction include:

• New or increasing shortness of breath (Dyspnea)
• New or increasing rapid breath rate (Tachypnea)
• New or progressive cough in patients with cancer
• New or increasing coughing up blood (Hemoptysis)

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services
There are exciting diagnostic and therapeutic services being currently offered (and in the works) for the Maine's first fully integrated multidisciplinary Interventional Pulmonary program.

It is directed by Mark Lund, MD, a formally trained interventional pulmonologist, one of only 5 trained annually nationwide.

The Center currently offers:

• Nd: YAG laser tumor resection,
• Rigid bronchoscopy,
• Argon Plasma Beam therapy and coagulation,
• endobronchial electrosurgery,
• Balloon bronchoplasty and tracheoplasty,
• Endobronchial tumor injection of chemotherapy, and
• Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
  • National Cancer Institute
  • American Cancer Society

We are the only Center in Maine offering PDT

Photodynamic Therapy is a tumor specific laser destruction that is palliative in advanced lung cancer and shows excellent promise in curative therapy for early (CIS and Stage I ) disease that is multi-focal or in a patient unable to undergo curative surgery.

There is significant interest in this therapy with early diagnosis (autoflourescence bronchoscopy).

Autofluourescence bronchoscopy allows visulalization of tumor by its red/brown fluorescence as compared to the usual green fluourescence. Even invisible carcinoma in-situ is visble and can be biopsied to prove maligancy.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

LungLinks - The Allegheny Center for Lung and Thoracic Disease

CDEH Consumer Information

The Regional Center for Complex Airway Disease Management will be looking at autofluourescence bronchoscopy and endobronchial ultrasound for determining depth of penetration of tumors in the next year.

The American College of Chest Physicians

Indications for Interventional Pulmonology Therapy

• Malignant tracheobronchial obstruction w/ endobronchial or extrinsic disease in pts. who have exhausted curative options.
• Malignant tracheobronchial obstruction in pts. awaiting or undergoing external x-ray therapy.
• Malignant tracheobronchial obstruction in pts. who are poor surgical candidates for lung resection.
• Malignant tracheobronchial obstruction in pts. whose obstruction is limiting their functional status and therefore limiting their chemo therapy and XRT treatment options.
• Benign airways tumors in pts. preferring minimally invasive approach or are not surgical candidates.
• Benign tracheal or bronchial stenosis from inflammatory or infectious causes while awaiting response to systemic therapy; prefer minimally invasive approach, or are awaiting an open surgical resection.
• Benign and complex tracheal stenosis in non-surgical candidate pts.
• Post intubation, post tracheotomy pts. w/tracheal stenosis.
• Pts. w/ airway obstruction causing respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation and can't be freed from the ventilator.

The Regional Center for Complex Airway Disease Management
Two Great Falls Plaza
Suite 3-B
Auburn, ME 04210
Phone: 207-783-2921
Fax: 207-777-7241