New Jersey CyberKnife at the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center recently joined efforts to raise awareness for hospital partner Community Medical Center’s lung cancer screening program.
The CyberKnife is a radiation machine that treats patients through stereotactic radiosurgery, a noninvasive technique with high-dose radiation precisely aimed from different angles. This is currently the world’s only robotic radiosurgery system and despite its name, it does not require surgery, resulting in painless and noninvasive treatment.
CyberKnife destroys cancerous and benign tumors with high-dose, highly accurate radiation beams, and minimizes collateral damages to healthy tissues, allowing physicians to treat difficult-to-reach tumors and significantly reducing treatment time for the patient as compared to traditional radiation therapy.
“The goal is to detect lung cancer in its early stages when it is much more curable than when found in later stages. When patients begin showing symptoms, the cancer can already be at an advanced stage. This program offers those at high risk for developing the disease the chance to be diagnosed earlier and receive treatment sooner,” Dr. David D’Ambrosio, New Jersey CyberKnife medical director said in a PR Newswire press release.
In the beginning of 2014, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a finalized recommendation advising CT lung cancer screening for long-term smokers, advocating annual lung cancer screenings for adults between the ages of 55 to 80 who have a 30-year history of smoking at least a pack a day and who currently smoke or have quit within the last 15 years.
“An early lung cancer diagnosis increases the likelihood of successful treatment and can give patients treatment options like CyberKnife® from which to choose,” Dr. Rajesh Iyer, Chief of Radiation Oncology at Community Medical Center added in the press relase.
On the 17th of September, free lung cancer screenings for high-risk individuals will be offered at the Clarion Hotel in Toms River, N.J., with physicians available to discuss lung cancer signs, etiology, symptoms and treatment options.
