Bright idea: Drug infusion lights up small lung cancer tumors to guide complex surgery

One of Jane Jud’s three cancerous lung nodules was small and in a hard-to-reach spot in her left upper lobe. It would be difficult for her surgeons to locate and extract it.

But during Jud’s surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine in February 2026, doctors used a novel fluorescent imaging agent that gave her lung cancer cells a bright green glow, offering a clear view and allowing them to successfully remove her cancer.

Jud, 77, is the first patient at UChicago Medicine to receive Cytalux (pafolacianine), a drug that provides a stark visual contrast so lung cancer is easier for surgeons to see.

“The technology has assisted us in resecting her tumor while preserving as much normal lung tissue as possible,” said UChicago Medicine thoracic surgeon Ernest Chan, MD, MPH, who performed Jud’s surgery.

“It really helps us in the operating room, because some nodules are hard to find.”

How Cytalux works for lung cancer surgery

Patients receive an infusion of Cytalux one hour before surgery intravenously. Then, in the operating room, surgeons use a camera that emits near-infrared light to see in real-time the cancer cells that have absorbed the drug.

In the past, treating lung cancer often meant removing a whole lung lobe. Now, thanks to recent scientific advances, doctors can often remove just a small lung segment. With this new illuminating agent, even less lung tissue is removed because the tumor’s boundaries are clearly defined, Chan said.

While working in Pittsburgh, Chan had experience using Cytalux when it was in clinical trials, before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2022 for use in lung cancer surgery (it was approved for ovarian cancer one year earlier).

Chan introduced the imaging agent to UChicago Medicine’s lung cancer team. Thoracic surgeon Darren Bryan, MD, led the effort to make it available to patients starting in February 2026.

Visual aid for difficult cancer cases

As more people are screened for lung cancer, smaller tumors are being found at an earlier stage. Although this advancement has led to more surgeries for smaller nodules, it doesn’t mean Cytalux is necessary for every patient.

“We reserve it for those that are complex lung resections, or for patients like Jane who have multiple small, more central tumors that are difficult to find,” Chan said.

Still, the advantage is clear for Jud, a retired advertising director who smoked for 40 years and was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2025. One week after her surgery, Jud said she felt great and was excited to be the first recipient of this cancer-detecting aid.

“I’m a person who always says, ‘Go for it,’” said Jud, who lives in Georgia but recovered with help from family in Chicago. “People need to know this is available.”

Cytalux is the second new imaging technology UChicago Medicine introduced this month. Doctors also began using intraoperative MRI, or iMRI, for complex surgeries.

An iMRI allows the scans to be done in real time, detecting potential complications in as little as seven seconds. In the past, patients would have to be transported several floors away for an MRI mid-surgery, adding risk and extending surgery times.