- With Mayo Clinic emeritus internist
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
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Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Dr. Edward Rosenow III sees a natural link between the Information Age and health care as a way to promote better health. Dr. Rosenow, a Columbus, Ohio, native, is board certified in internal medicine and pulmonary disease and worked in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. He retired from clinical practice in 1996 after 30 years' service at Mayo Clinic.
"It has always been my feeling that the better informed the patient is about his or her body and its functions, the better the patient-physician partnership," he says. "The informed patient is in turn more compliant with the physician's recommendations and better able to make intelligent decisions about health care needs."
Dr. Rosenow is a former Arthur M. and Gladys D. Gray Professor of Medicine and former chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic. He was also president of the American College of Chest Physicians, consultant to NASA on the Space Station Freedom project, president of the Mayo Clinic staff, a regent with the American College of Chest Physicians and program director of the internal medicine residency program at Mayo Clinic.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Rosenow was a five-time Teacher of the Year in internal medicine and inducted into the Mayo Fellows Hall of Fame of Outstanding Teachers.
In 1994, he won the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award from Mayo Clinic staff and in 1995 was honored with the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Memorial Award for Lifetime Dedication to Patient Care by the American College of Physicians. He was named to a mastership by the American College of Physicians in 1998 and that year also won the Mayo Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is also a Master Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians. In 2008, a professorship was established in his name — the Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D., Mayo Professorship in the Art of Medicine.
Dr. Rosenow has contributed to 156 publications, including 48 book chapters and one co-authored book.
Definition (1)
- Lung nodules: Can they be cancerous?
Treatments and drugs (2)
- Small cell lung cancer: Can brain radiation prevent spread?
- Photodynamic therapy: An effective treatment for lung cancer?
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Question
Lung nodules: Can they be cancerous?
Can lung nodules be cancerous?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Although most lung nodules are noncancerous (benign), some represent early-stage lung cancer.
Lung nodules — small masses of tissue in the lung — are quite common. They appear as round, white shadows on a chest X-ray or computerized tomography (CT) scan. They're usually about 1/5 inch to 1 inch, or 5 millimeters (mm) to 25 mm, in size. A larger lung nodule, such as one that's 25 mm or larger, is more likely to be cancerous than is a smaller lung nodule.
Your doctor may compare your current chest X-ray or CT scan with a previous one. If the nodule appears in earlier images and hasn't changed in size, shape or appearance, it's probably noncancerous. Causes of noncancerous lung nodules include histoplasmosis, tuberculosis, hematoma, lung cysts and vascular abnormalities. Noncancerous lung nodules usually require no treatment; however, your doctor will probably monitor the nodule for changes using periodic imaging tests.
If a lung nodule is new or has changed in size, shape or appearance, your doctor may recommend further testing — such as a CT scan, positron emission tomography (PET) scan or tissue biopsy — to determine if it is cancerous.
Next questionSmall cell lung cancer: Can brain radiation prevent spread?
- Wahidi MM, et al. Evidence for the treatment of patients with pulmonary nodules: When is it lung cancer? Chest. 2007;132(suppl):94S.
- Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 14, 2009.
