November is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. During the month, people throughout the country come together to support the lung cancer community and raise awareness about the disease.
Lung cancer is a cancer that forms in tissues of the lung, usually in the cells lining air passages. The two main types are small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. These types are diagnosed based on how the cells look under a microscope.
According to the American Cancer Society, each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. The ACS estimates that there will be about 234,580 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the United States in 2024, with 10,390 of those cases being diagnosed in Ohio.
Although smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, lung cancer risk also is increased by exposure to secondhand smoke, environmental exposures, such as radon, workplace toxins (e.g., asbestos, arsenic), and air pollution.
At Columbus CyberKnife, lung cancer patients are treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System. CyberKnife is a quick and effective non-invasive outpatient cancer treatment with minimal to no side effects. During the CyberKnife treatment, hundreds of highly concentrated and incredibly precise beams of radiation are targeted directly to tumors and lesions in the lung. As the patient breathes during the CyberKnife treatment, the CyberKnife robotic arm moves with the rise and fall of their body, meaning that healthy tissue is protected from radiation and only the tumor is treated.
To learn more about treating lung cancer with CyberKnife technology, please contact Columbus CyberKnife today.