Treating Lung Cancer with CyberKnife® Technology

According to the American Lung Association, lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the United States and causes more deaths than colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined.  An estimated 158,040 Americans are expected to die from lung cancer in 2015, accounting for approximately 27 percent of all cancer deaths.  

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.  

At San Francisco CyberKnife, lung cancer patients are treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System.  CyberKnife is a 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 treating lung cancer with CyberKnife technology, please click here.  For information about other conditions treated by CyberKnife, please click here.