What Causes 27% of All Cancer Deaths?

TAMPA BAY, Fla. – (Nov. 14, 2014) November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay are encouraging local residents to learn more about this often devastating disease.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second most common cancer in women and men. 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.

While chronic coughing, chest pain and shortness of breath or wheezing are widely known symptoms of lung cancer, other signs may include loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss, bone fractures without injury and blood clots. However, symptoms may not be present until the disease has metastasized, or spread. According to the Lung Cancer Alliance, only 15% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed while still in its early stages.

“Lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates out of all cancer sites,” says Board Certified Radiation Oncologist Debra Freeman, M.D., with CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay. “Here at CyberKnife, we are committed to increasing the survival rates by raising awareness and providing the latest advances in cancer care to treat it.”

The team of doctors at CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay offer the precision of a non-surgical alternative procedure found in cancer treatment hospitals and make it available in the comfort and convenience of a neighborhood cancer center.

Without actually using a knife, the non-invasive alternative to surgery can be used to treat lung cancer using high doses of radiation. The accuracy of the CyberKnife System’s computer-controlled robot allows the doctors to deliver highly-effective, cancer-killing treatment safely due to the smaller size of the radiation field, resulting in less damage to surrounding healthy tissue and a quicker recovery. The CyberKnife system treats tumors in just one to five sessions.

“Lung cancer is an often complex disease, but it is important to know that there are effective treatment options available in our community,” says Dr. Freeman. “At CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay, we are proud to offer a non-surgical alternative to surgery that can fight lung tumors with highly precise radiation therapy.”

For more information about CyberKnife treatment, visit www.CyberKnifeTampaBay.org.

About CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay:

CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay was founded in 2008 when a group of radiation oncologists with extensive backgrounds and a combined 45 years of radiosurgical experience opened the first CyberKnife Center in Tampa Bay, located on the campus of Town and Country Hospital. Drawing on their experience with CyberKnife centers in Miami, Palm Beach and Naples and their expertise with other forms of radiosurgery, the group introduced this exciting new technology to Central Florida. CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay is owned and operated by Tampa Bay Radiosurgery Associates, LLC. With two freestanding facilities located in Tampa and Brandon, the staff at the outpatient centers is dedicated to providing image-guided radiosurgical treatments while understanding and upholding a standard of comfort for patients undergoing treatment.