Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals are a major centre for treating lung, chest and oesophageal cancers, and is the UK's leading provider of complex thoracic surgery.

We deal with more thoracic sarcomas, mediastinal tumours and primary chest metastases than any other centre in the UK.


Cancers of the chest

We use a variety of methods to confirm cancer diagnoses and to identify what stage it has reached. Our hospitals are well-equipped with the latest scanning devices, which allow us to diagnose some patients without performing a biopsy.

For patients deemed to have ‘inoperable’ tumours, our specialists have pioneered ‘cryosurgery’ where tumours are frozen inside the body.

Our consultants also recently pioneered single port surgery for lung cancer to achieve better pain control and shorter hospital stay.

Other treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy are provided by our contacts at Royal Marsden Hospital (for Royal Brompton Hospital patients) and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (for Harefield Hospital patients), or where possible, at a hospital near to the patient’s home.


Airway disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

We are the largest surgical centre in the UK for the management of COPD, performing lung volume reduction and bullectomy with a 0 per cent mortality over the past 100 cases. Where possible, these procedures are performed via keyhole or video-assisted surgery (VATS).

Furthermore, our hospitals have long-standing experience in treating airway disease and the surgical correction of pectus abnormalities.


Read more about the conditions and treatments that our specialists offer: