In an emotional return to the broadcast booth after being away for nearly two years, ESPN’s legendary announcer Dick Vitale, made a triumphant return after battling four different types of cancer.
“I want to say thanks to all the people,” Vitale said at a his first game back – Duke versus Clemson in early February, according to ESPN. “The reception here has been really off the charts. I’m sorry for being so emotional. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here. This is like my Super Bowl. To be able to sit courtside and do a game, it beats the hell out of chemotherapy and radiation.”
He continued: “And I want to say to all cancer patients out there: Please, think positive and have faith. And keep fighting and fighting.”
The 85-year-old announcer has fought melanoma, lymphoma, vocal cord and lymph node cancers with multiple surgeries, 65 radiation treatments and chemotherapy, according to a USA Today article.
So likely if you asked him – or any other cancer patient – what the most aggressive cancer was, they’d say the cancer they were diagnosed with and fighting right now.
And while any cancer you may personally be fighting is the most aggressive for you, statistics tell another – often less personal and sometimes stark — side of the story.
Deadliest Cancers By Numbers
According to the National Cancer Institute, last year more than 125,000 people in the United States died from lung cancer. There were about 53,000 colon cancer deaths – making it the second deadliest cancer. That’s followed by about 51,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer. Breast, prostate and liver cancers round out the top six deadliest cancers.
Aggressive cancers can also be broken down by ethnicity and sex. For example, prostate cancer death rates are higher among African Americans, and lung cancer deaths are higher among Caucasians.
Aggressive Cancers by Relative Survival Rates
Another way to look at aggressive cancers is to examine the relative survival rate, meaning the percentage of patients surviving their cancer diagnosis after a certain time frame.
In this case, let’s look at a five-year relative survival rate.
Again, the National Cancer Institute reports that the cancer with the lowest five-year relative survival rate is pancreatic cancer at 12.8%, followed by esophageal cancer at 21.6%, liver and bile duct cancer at 21.7%, lung and bronchus cancer at 26.7% and brain cancers at 33.4%.
Keep in mind these survival rates depend on when the cancer is diagnosed. For example, the five-year relative survival rate of localized pancreatic cancer is 44% according to the American Cancer Society. And the five-year-relative survival rate of localized lung cancer is 65%.
Cancer Treatment Center Miami
Whatever type of cancer you or your loved one is facing — the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami, a state-of the-art radiation treatment center for cancer in South Florida, know any cancer diagnosis is frightening. And we’re here to help you navigate your treatment options whether your treatment involves radiation or not.
Despite its name, CyberKnife is not a knife at all. It’s a noninvasive radiation treatment system for cancerous and non-cancerous tumors and other medical problems.
CyberKnife’s missile guidance technology enables the stereotactic body radiation therapy or SBRT to track a tumor’s movement in real time. The technology delivers radiation directly to the tumor, while leaving healthy surrounding tissue unharmed. This way it can deliver the highest dose of radiation possible. With CyberKnife, patients need a much shorter course of treatment than with traditional radiation because SBRT is targeted radiation.
CyberKnife has been used for three decades and studied in clinical trials for more than 30. It has helped hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide – even patients who were told they couldn’t have more radiation, or their tumors were inoperable.
CyberKnife can be used to treat cancers of the prostate, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, head and neck, lymph nodes and brain as well as other metastatic cancers and medical conditions like trigeminal neuralgia where radiation is recommended.
Cyberknife Miami opened its doors 22 years ago and was the first Cyberknife center to open in the Southeast.
Since that time, we have successfully treated thousands of patients from South Florida and around the world.
Our patients are not statistics. Our staff knows treating patients with compassion and scientifically proven, state-of-the-art technology go hand in hand. That’s the advantage we have over other cancer treatment centers.
Here’s what we hear most from patients. “I’ve never seen anything like this place. Everyone is so caring, professional and knowledgeable. You’re not just a number. The whole team cares about you and your family. They treat you with the greatest respect and take the time you need to answer all your questions. They go above and beyond. They help you with every aspect of your treatment, before, during and after. And they actually pick up the phone when you call, or if they can’t, they call you back as soon as they can. Plus the ease of getting in and out of the center is a bonus. You drive into the parking lot, walk into the building and right into the center. There is no trying to figure out where to go. They make the whole process of cancer treatment in Miami a lot easier.”
If you are interested in learning more about CyberKnife technology and if our highly experienced team at CyberKnife Miami can help you, call us at 305-279-2900 or go to our website now to see patient testimonials, our blogs and much more information.