A giant “Mega Lung” at START Cancer Center lets visitors walk through lungs while doctors raise awareness about lung disease, prevention and early detection.
SAN ANTONIO — An enormous inflatable lung is drawing attention at the START Cancer Center — also known as South Texas Oncology and Hematology — in the Medical Center.
The “Mega Lung,” an 8-to-9-foot-tall inflatable model, allows visitors to walk through a pair of lungs and see how various diseases affect the organ. The free public exhibit was part of a day-long program marking National Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
Doctors at START guided guests through the interactive display, which highlights the importance of early detection, screening and prevention of lung disease. Visitors could also scan QR codes inside the exhibit to learn about how lungs function and how diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer impact breathing.
“It’s important to increase awareness and education about lung cancer and educate the public about signs and symptoms that could be related to lung cancer — and methods of early detection, screening and prevention,” said Dr. Tony Harb, a medical oncologist at The START Center.
Harb says lung cancer remains one of the most common and deadliest cancers in the U.S.
“About a quarter million people are diagnosed every year,” Harb said. “More people die of lung cancer every year than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.”
Harb said smoking remains the most significant risk factor for lung cancer, but he also pointed to newer threats.
“The most important risk factors as we know about lung cancer is smoking. Secondhand smoking is another risk factor,” he said. “It’s also important to talk about vaping. Right now there’s this vaping epidemic among teenagers and adults. We don’t know if it’s increasing the risk of lung cancer, but it’s definitely increasing the risk of lung disease.”
He urged smokers and former smokers, especially those between ages 50 and 80, to talk to their doctors about early screening.
“If you are personally a smoker or former smoker, or if you know your friends or loved ones who are, it’s important to talk to them about early detection,” Harb said. “Low-dose CAT scans of the chest have been proven to lower mortalities from lung cancer compared to a chest X-ray.”
Early detection, he added, can make a life-saving difference.
“The earlier we detect lung cancer, the better the outcome,” Harb said. “For a stage 1 lung cancer, if we detect it early, the likelihood of getting rid of the cancer is anywhere from 70 to 90 percent compared to stage 4, where mortality increases dramatically.”
Harb emphasized that prevention remains the best approach.
“Vaping, for teenagers and young adults — if you think vaping is not going to cause any problems, that is not correct,” he said. “It’s going to cause a lot of trouble, including lung problems.”
The START Center’s exhibit aims to help patients, first responders and the public recognize symptoms such as shortness of breath, chronic cough, coughing up blood, chest pain and weight loss — and to encourage life-saving screenings.
“Exactly like every person gets a colonoscopy or every woman gets a mammogram,” Harb said, “you need to get a CAT scan of the chest.”