November is officially Lung Cancer Awareness Month. The event started back in 1995 as Lung Cancer Awareness Day. As the lung cancer community and the lung cancer movement grew, the awareness activities increased and the day matured into Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
Lung cancer is a disease that occurs when cells in the lungs grow out of control and form tumors. There are two main types of lung cancer: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). About 80% to 85% of lung cancers are NSCLC. The main subtypes of NSCLC are adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. These subtypes, which start from different types of lung cells, are grouped together as NSCLC because their treatment and prognoses are often similar.
According to the American Cancer Society, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 234,580 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the United States in 2024, with over 14,000 of those cases being diagnosed in Texas.
Although smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, lung cancer risk also is increased by exposure to secondhand smoke, environmental exposures, workplace toxins, and air pollution. The risk of lung cancer can be reduced by quitting smoking and by eliminating or reducing exposure to secondhand smoke and environmental and workplace risk factors.
At Austin CyberKnife, lung cancer patients are treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System. CyberKnife is a painless, 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 his/her body – meaning that healthy tissue is protected from radiation and only the tumor is treated.
To learn more about how Austin CyberKnife treats lung cancer with CyberKnife technology, please contact our center today.