Dr. Benny Weksler is helping patients breathe a little easier.

As system chief of thoracic surgery at Allegheny Health Network, the Edgeworth resident leads the lung cancer lobectomy surgery program, which recently was recognized for its work.

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, making up almost 25% of all cancer deaths. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined, according to the American Cancer Society.

“I love the anatomy of the chest and developed an interest in lung diseases and lung cancer since my research years at Memorial Sloan Kettering (in New York),” Weksler said. “The way the lungs are structured makes surgery more difficult and more challenging.”

His interest in lungs led him to the helm of the lung cancer lobectomy surgery program, which received a three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The rating indicates “the highest quality of patient care and outcomes and places AHN among the top 5 percent elite general thoracic surgery programs in the United States and Canada,” according to AHN.

It is the only center in Allegheny County to be given this designation, he said.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a nonprofit organization that represents more than 7,300 surgeons, researchers and allied health care professionals worldwide. The database contains more than 616,000 general thoracic surgery procedure records and has approximately 1,000 participating physicians, according to the society.

Ratings are derived by testing whether the participant’s scores on quality outcomes are significantly different from the overall average for lobectomy for lung cancer performed by participants.

The public has a right to see and better understand surgical outcomes, said Dr. David M. Shahian, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

“Public reporting is an ethical responsibility of health care providers, and we take this very seriously in cardiothoracic surgery,” Shahian said.

“Transparency of outcomes focuses the quality improvement activities of our participating programs and provides invaluable information for patients as they choose their health care providers.”

Dr. Stephen Bailey, chair of the AHN Cardiovascular Institute and system chair of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery said in a statement that the rating reflects the team’s unwavering commitment to innovative, patient-centered care and can serve as guidance for patients and families seeking the best option for lung surgery.

Pulmonary lobectomy is the most common surgery for lung cancer cure.

Weksler said the rating is significant because it wasn’t solicited and was awarded based on actual data.

“To receive this recognition is amazingly satisfying,” said Weksler, a native of Brazil. “But there is still work to be done.”

Hired by AHN three years ago, Weksler said his focus is to help patients make informed decisions about where to go for treatment. Prior to joining AHN, he was director of Robotic Thoracic Surgery for UPMC and chief of the Pittsburgh VA Hospital.

He left there for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis before returning to Pittsburgh. His dedication to helping those with lung cancer was inspired at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where he did a research fellowship after finishing general surgery residency and two years of thoracic surgery residency.

Thoracic medicine is the study and treatment of diseases of the lungs and the surrounding organs in the chest, excluding the heart, which is included in the specialty of cardiology.

Weksler wanted to be involved in lung cancer care.

“I fell in love with the specialty,” Weksler said.

Weksler said people sometimes say that lung cancer is a choice disease brought upon by a patient’s own bad behavior, which is “a very unfortunate thing.” He said nicotine is as addictive as heroin. There were many years when smoking was advertised as a cool thing to do. Lung cancer is diagnosed in 10-15% of nonsmokers, he said.

He said his team uses the Da Vinci Surgical System. It is a device with four skinny arms that allows a surgeon to work in tight spaces with tiny incisions. The system has a video camera that allows a 3-dimensional magnified view of all structures.

AHN uses a multidisciplinary approach to lung cancer. Doctors meet to discuss patients with more complex lung cancer issues and offer treatment recommendations. The network also offers lung cancer screening for patients older than 50 who smoked at least 20 years.

Lung cancer screening can decrease mortality by 20%.

“Part of human nature is waiting,” Weksler said. “It’s the ostrich syndrome of sticking your head in the sand. People are afraid of hearing bad news, but we assure people if we find this early we can help you. The 3-star designation reflects this commitment to care for our patients in a multidisciplinary and holistic way, focused on quality and safety from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship.”

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