UCHealth Lung Cancer Clinic - Anschutz Medical Campus

Just as important as finding the best team of physicians, nurses and staff is finding a team of people who know that cancer is more than a physical disease, and are committed to treating each patient as a whole person.

At the CU Cancer Center, the same caring team of doctors and support professionals will be with you throughout your entire journey.

• Your team is made up of experts from many fields who specialize in thoracic oncology: thoracic surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, pulmonologists, pathologists, radiologists, nurses, social workers and counselors. They review your test results, your progress and discuss the next best step in your care with each other and with you.
• All your records, consultations, test results and all the provider notes about you and your treatment’s history are in an electronic medical record, available to all the doctors within the University of Colorado Hospital system. Any of them may be called in from all our specialties to help treat you and your condition.
• You also have access to complementary and alternative medicine through our doctor-led Center for Integrative Medicine.

We’re proud to say that cancer treatment at UCH includes compassionate support and education for you and your entire support network.

As the regional leader in cancer research, treatment and support, you get specialized care not available anywhere else in Colorado.

• World-renowned experts in cancer diagnosis and staging, which are the first steps for getting proper cancer care.
• Patients are treated in facilities specifically designed to protect weakened immune systems.
• Access to many new treatments, including the latest drugs and vaccines for treating lung cancer and increasing life expectancy, through our involvement in clinical trials.

Get access to leading lung cancer treatments and advanced molecular tumor testing at UCHealth.

We offer some of the most sophisticated molecular tests and one of the broadest ranges of clinical trials for new treatments of lung cancer.

Advanced molecular testing screens tumors for genetic problems that can be targeted with specific drugs.

We offer participation in clinical trials, including experimental targeted lung cancer therapy for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. Our affiliate, the University of Colorado Cancer Center, serves as the lead site for the nationwide Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium—a collaboration of 14 of the nation’s elite lung cancer programs—which offers free molecular tumor testing for certain subtypes of lung cancer.

As part of your physician visit, this testing helps match your specific type of lung cancer to the targeted treatment that best fits your situation.

Tumor testing services.

Choose UCHealth for lung tumor testing with or without cancer consultation, or get a second opinion from our cancer professionals.

• Tumor testing with cancer consultation – At our Lung Cancer Clinic on the Anschutz Medical Campus, our expert lung cancer physicians guide you through your diagnosis and treatment options, including advanced tumor testing.
• Tumor testing without cancer consultation – Advanced molecular testing through our UCHealth partner laboratory, Colorado Molecular Correlates (CMOCO), can determine if a lung tumor is positive for a variety of gene problems, including ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase).

Before sending your information to us:

• Talk to your doctor about having your tumor tested at UCHealth.
• Consider that tumor testing does not include a detailed explanation of results; interpretation requires a visit with our lung cancer physicians.
• Contact your health insurer for information about whether tumor testing is covered by your policy.
• Be prepared to pay the costs for tumor testing that are not covered by insurance.

How to submit tumor specimens for testing without consultation.

Call us at 720-848-0300 for a CMOCO lab request form between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Complete the form and send it with the following information:

• Clinician/oncologist contact information – Name, phone number, fax number, NPI number.
• Patient billing information – Demographic information (only if self-pay) and insurance information, if your insurance will be billed for the test.
• Tumor specimen – Clearly identified tumor specimen fixed in buffered formalin and associated pathology report.
  OR
• Ten unstained slides with associated pathology report.

NOTE: Decalcified specimens (bone biopsies) are not acceptable for FISH testing.

Mailing address

CMOCO Lab
University of Colorado School of Medicine
12801 E. 17th Avenue, Campus Box 8104
R1-South, L18-5101
Aurora, CO 80045

The University of Colorado Cancer Center is a nationally recognized center for second opinions regarding all aspects of lung cancer and other thoracic cancers.

To schedule your second opinion consultation, call 720-848-0300.

What to bring to your second opinion appointment.

Our second opinions are based on our review of all available information, including comprehensively re-reviewing all scans and tests.

Please bring all medical records dating back to your diagnosis to your second opinion appointment. Ideally, these should also include your scans on CDs and the actual tumor specimen on microscope slides. The doctors who have looked after you already should be able to provide these for you.

Our remote second opinions program.

If you would like a second opinion from our team but cannot immediately come in for an appointment, or live far from our Anschutz clinic, please read about our Remote Second Opinions program.