Jasleen Pannu, MD The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Dr. Jasleen Pannu is an assistant professor of medicine and director of the Interventional Pulmonology Translational Research in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC). She aims to build high-quality research and quality improvement core at OSUWMC in the evolving field of interventional pulmonology. She is passionate about “Early Detection of Lung Cancer” and “Overcoming Disparities in Lung Cancer Care”. Her current focus is developing a state-of-the-art, comprehensive lung nodule program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and The James Cancer Hospital (OSUCCC-James) to serve patients across Ohio.
The Early Lung Cancer Detection Program at the OSUCCC-James is an innovative, multidisciplinary program designed to enhance the ability to detect and diagnose lung cancer at the earliest stages. The incidental lung nodule (ILN) and lung cancer screening (LCS) programs are critical components of the early lung cancer detection efforts at the OSUCCC-James. Through cutting-edge technology, groundbreaking research and patient-centered care geared toward eliminating health care disparities, we envision considerably enhancing the survival of patients with lung cancer.
The newly initiated comprehensive and multidisciplinary ILN program consists of artificial intelligence assisted lung nodule detection and follow-up, patient navigation and a specialty lung nodule clinic. Natural language processing software will automatically review radiology reports of all chest CT imaging performed within the OSUCCC-James and OSUWMC system. Scans that reveal a lung nodule will be flagged. The program’s navigator will then review these patients’ scans daily to identify individuals at greatest risk and facilitate a fast-track evaluation with a pulmonologist in the lung nodule clinic. The ILN program works synergistically with the LCS program and the diagnostic clinic. It is staffed with interventional pulmonologists who work in close collaboration with specialists in radiology, thoracic surgery and oncology and radiation oncology for expedited consultation and lung nodule board reviews. In the first year of its initiation alone, more than 60 patients were diagnosed with malignancies in the lung nodule clinic, most of these being lung cancer, including over 40 patients with early-stage lung cancer. More than 40 patients with early lung cancer diagnosed through this program have completed definitive treatment.