Ever have a cold or flu and feel a bump or nodule near your throat or in your neck? If you have, that’s likely a lymph node hard at work to help your body fight off an infection.
You can think of your body’s lymph nodes and lymph system as a highly efficient infection-fighting way to filter waste and harmful infections out of your body. There are hundreds of lymph nodes in your body’s lymph system working to keep your immune system strong.
You generally never notice lymph nodes until there is a problem.
According to the American Cancer Society, when you have an infection, injury, or even cancer, your lymph nodes or group of nodes swell to get rid of the cells that shouldn’t be there. When the infection or injury is gone, the swelling goes away.
But with cancer, it’s a different story.
Cancer of The Lymph Nodes
Cancer can occur in the lymph nodes in one of two ways.
It can start there like in the case of lymphoma.
Or it can spread to the lymph nodes. That happens with metastatic cancer – when cancer starts somewhere in the body and spreads to other parts of the body.
This is very common in the later stages of cancer.
Treating Metastatic Lymph Node Cancer
Typically, doctors use a combination of chemotherapy and radiation to treat lymph node cancer. Sometimes patients have surgery to remove the lymph nodes too.
But the trouble with removing the lymph nodes is you can end up with what’s called lymphedema, which causes fluid build-up and swelling in the part of the body where the nodes were removed. That can sometimes create a lifetime of uncomfortable, painful problems, even after cancer goes into remission.
The CyberKnife Advantage for Lymph Node Cancer
According to Dr. Mark Pomper, board-certified radiation oncologist and medical director of The CyberKnife Center of Miami, CyberKnife offers another and often better solution.
CyberKnife is not a knife at all. The technology uses missile-guided radiation to target cancer in the lymph nodes with pinpoint accuracy. It’s non-invasive, and because it’s so precise, it destroys only the cancer cells leaving healthy surrounding tissue unharmed.
CyberKnife targets these swollen malignant lymph nodes, eliminating the cancerous cells. When combined with other treatments like chemotherapy, CyberKnife can offer a powerful option for treating lymphoma or lymph node cancer.
“The CyberKnife advantage is that even if an area has been treated with radiation before, we can treat the same area again because the technology is so precise. We treat a lot of lymph nodes at CyberKnife Miami, and we treat them very successfully,” says Dr. Pomper. He adds, “Some doctors mistakenly tell patients the area can’t be treated if it’s been treated before with other types of radiation. That’s not always true. Those patients should get a second opinion from a CyberKnife expert at The CyberKnife Center of Miami.”
The makers of CyberKnife say in a case study for kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer that spread to the lymph nodes, CyberKnife treatment produced excellent results.
According to another study using CyberKnife for lymph node cancer, CyberKnife controlled local tumors and provided symptom relief without high levels of toxicity.
Lymph Node Cancer Patient Success Stories
The CyberKnife Center of Miami has been treating Ruby Alexander for more than 20 years.
Ruby had breast cancer that spread to the lungs, liver and lymph nodes. CyberKnife Miami has done more than 20 treatments on her – mostly on her lymph nodes – reducing swelling and pain and improving her quality of life.
The same is true for Barbara Lamp, she had lymphoma of the lung pleura. With treatments at CyberKnife Miami, she never had another tumor caused by lymphoma.
“The CyberKnife treatment made a huge difference for my mom,” says Gail Suarez, Barbara’s daughter, who also works as a radiation therapist for CyberKnife Miami. “I know that CyberKnife treatments helped my mom battle lymphoma in the best way possible with the best possible results. She was very frail and could not tolerate standard chemotherapy, conventional radiation therapy or bone marrow biopsies the doctors were recommending. She was able to have the CyberKnife radiation and never had any side effects. She lived for several years and never had a recurrence of the lymphoma.”
CyberKnife Treatment Near Me: CyberKnife in Miami and South Florida
The CyberKnife Center of Miami can help you when it comes to deciding on the right treatment plan for cancer that spread to the lymph nodes. The CyberKnife Miami was the first CyberKnife center in South Florida to offer this treatment.
We can give you the second opinion and the peace of mind you need to devise the right treatment plan for you and your cancer.
Our doctors and staff are experts in the field, even training others with this state-of-the-art technology. Their compassion and personalized treatment can be the difference you need to get cancer behind you as quickly and easily as possible.
If you are interested in learning more about CyberKnife Miami call us at 305-279-2900 or go to our website now to learn more.