Allison Ciaccio, a soon-to-be grandmother, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer in April of this year—despite never having smoked.

After her daughter’s wedding, she noticed she felt fatigued, and in January was treated for an upper-respiratory infection. After that cleared, she still felt fatigued, so Ciaccio, who’s based in the Princeton, New Jersey, area, sought diagnostic care at her local community hospital and prepared to spend days in the intensive care unit after the operation.

Her plans changed, however, after a friend’s recommendation prompted her to go to New York City for a consultation at NYU Langone Health with Robert J. Cerfolio, MD, MBA, the chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Cerfolio planned to perform a robotic left upper lobectomy, which would send her home after 24 hours. Allison signed up that day for her surgery, which involved the removal of about half of her left lung and 25 lymph nodes.

“As soon as I began working with Dr. Cerfolio, I knew I was in good hands,” says Ciaccio. “He explained that I was a good candidate for this robotic procedure, which would allow me to recover faster and get back to my life. I got my surgery done on a Wednesday and, on Thursday, I was calling my ride to go home.”

Recently, Ciaccio received a follow-up CT scan, which showed no recurrence of her cancer. She will continue to monitor and be vigilant, but is back to working full-time and living life as normal.

About 10 to 20 percent of lung cancer cases occur in people who’ve never smoked, though cancer rates are increasing in that population.

The NYU Langone thoracic surgical service has some of the most experienced robotic surgeons in the world, with the highest rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons for lung cancer lobectomy and resection in North America. In addition, this surgical team is one of the most experienced in the country, performing more surgeries than the national average, with no 30- and 90-day mortalities. Patients also go home sooner than average, with 90 percent of people who had lobectomy and 95 percent of people who had segmentectomy to remove a portion of the lung discharged within 24 hours.

Thoracic surgeries are usually complex, so our surgeons collaborate with pulmonologists and specialists in medical oncology, radiation oncology, and radiology from NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center. They perform more than 98 percent of their operations robotically, reducing the need for open surgeries. This allows for a minimally invasive approach, which improves outcomes for patients.

In U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings, NYU Langone is tied for No. 1 in the nation for pulmonology and lung surgery.

“We are known all over the world as innovators in surgical techniques, and this extends to postoperative care,” Dr. Cerfolio says. “We are dedicated to our patients, making availability a priority, and patients travel from around the globe to have us perform their lung resection.”

Surgeons at NYU Langone are international leaders in using robotic technology to manage a wide range of medical conditions, performing more than 2,000 robot-assisted surgeries each year. NYU Langone experts have pioneered the development and innovation of many robotic surgery techniques and continue to invest in new and evolving technology. As leaders in robotic surgical techniques, we train surgeons from hospitals across the nation and from around the world in how to perform the latest robot-assisted cardiac, bariatric, thoracic, gynecologic, colorectal, urologic, and gastrointestinal procedures.

“Everyone I met at NYU was so courteous and kind,” says Ciaccio. “From the receptionist to the lab technicians, they changed my perspective on what it means to go to a ‘big-city hospital.’”