Using Innovative and Advanced Technology to Treat Lung Cancer - KXAN.com

Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in one or both lungs. These abnormal cells do not carry out the functions of normal lung cells and do not develop into healthy lung tissue. As they grow, the abnormal cells can form tumors and interfere with the functioning of the lung, which provides oxygen to the body via the blood.

There are two major types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Non-small cell lung cancer is more common and accounts for about 85 percent of lung cancers. Staging lung cancer is based on whether the cancer is local or has spread from the lungs to the lymph nodes or other organs. Because the lungs are large, tumors can grow in them for a long time before they are found. Even when symptoms, such as coughing and fatigue, do occur, people think they are due to other causes. For this reason, early-stage lung cancer (stages I and II) is difficult to detect.

There are several risk factors that may increase your chances of getting lung cancer, including:

• Smoking. Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. In the United States, cigarette smoking is linked to about 90% of lung cancers. Using other tobacco products such as cigars or pipes also increases the risk for lung cancer.
• Secondhand Smoke
• Personal or Family History of Lung Cancer
• Radon
• Other Substances. Examples of substances found at some workplaces that increase risk include asbestos, arsenic, diesel exhaust, and some forms of silica and chromium.

Lung cancer accounts for about 27% of all cancer deaths and is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. According to the American Cancer Society, almost 15k new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in Texas in 2019.

Patients diagnosed with lung cancer are treated with the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System at Austin CyberKnife. CyberKnife is a painless, noninvasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumors anywhere in the body. The treatment delivers beams of high dose radiation to tumors with extreme precision and features a device that controls the width of the radiation beams the machine delivers during treatment, allowing our clinical experts to vary the beam size and treat a larger variety of tumors throughout the body.

Before treatment, a radiation oncologist will determine whether the patient’s tumor may need implanted fiducial markers, tiny markers that inserted into the tumor to guide the CyberKnife system track the tumor during treatment. The patient will also be fitted with a custom body support pad, which will help him/her remain relaxed and still during treatment. To monitor breathing, the CyberKnife team will provide the patient with a comfortable LED-enhanced vest or shirt to wear during treatment. During treatment, the patient will lie still, relax, and breathe normally as the CyberKnife’s computer-controlled robotic arm moves around his/her body, delivering radiation directly to the tumor or lesion.

There are numerous benefits of CyberKnife treatment, including:

• It’s noninvasive, meaning no incisions
• There is no anesthesia or hospitalization required
• It’s painless
• It’s completed in five or fewer outpatient treatment sessions
• There is little to no recovery time, allowing for an immediate return to daily activities
• There are minimal, if any, side effects
• Due to pinpoint precision of high-dose radiation delivery, there is minimal radiation exposure to healthy tissue surrounding a tumor

Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body. If the cells travel through the lymph system, they may end up in nearby lymph nodes or they may spread to other organs. More often, cancer cells that break off from the main tumor travel through the bloodstream. Once in the blood, they can go to any part of the body. The most common areas cancer cells spread to are the brain, lungs, liver and bones. When cancer spreads to another area, it has the same name and the same type as the original cancer. For example, lung cancer that spreads to the brain and forms a metastatic tumor is metastatic lung cancer, not brain cancer. There are many cancers that commonly spread to the lungs. This is because the heart pumps blood from the rest of the body through the lungs’ blood vessels before sending it elsewhere.

The CyberKnife System can treat patients that have previously had surgery, gone through radiation therapy, or are currently undergoing radiation therapy. When dealing with metastatic cancer, it is important for the patient to provide their physician with a complete medical history, so the physician can prescribe the appropriate treatment course.

Austin CyberKnife is located on I-35 near the Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas. Call 512-324-8060 or go to austincyberknife.com for more details.

Sponsored by Austin Cyberknife. Opinions expressed by guests on this program are solely those of the guest(s) and are not endorsed by this television station.

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