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Orlando Health shows lung cancer fighting robots
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States. More men and women in the United States die from lung cancer than any other kind, according to the CDC. At Orlando Health, doctors gave us a look at the multimillion-dollar tools they use to find lung cancer at its earliest stages.
OCOEE, Fla. - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States.
More men and women in the United States die from lung cancer than any other kind, according to the CDC. At Orlando Health, doctors gave us a look at the multi-million-dollar tools they use to find lung cancer at its earliest stages.
"If you currently smoke or previously smoked, and you're over 50 years old, please see your doctor. Cancer screening is the only thing that has been proven to increase survival from lung cancer," said Dr. Ali Jiwani, MD, from Orlando Health Cancer Institute’s Interventional Pulmonology department.
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One of the machines Orlando Health uses to find cancer cells in the lungs, called nodules, is the ION Robot.
"It allows us to go through someone's mouth, into their lungs, and find a lung nodule anywhere in the lungs, no matter how far out it is or whatever anatomy, and biopsy it with the utmost precision," Jiwani said.
Before they used this machine, doctors had to stick long needles into patients' chests to do biopsies - which could collapse their lungs. Doctors said using the ION Robot was much safer. In the two-and-a-half years since they've had the ION Robot, they've used it to diagnose more than 1,500 patients.
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The other device they use is called a Da Vinci machine. A doctor remotely controls its spider-like arms to cut out cancerous lung tissue when they find it.
"So what it allows us to do is have better visualization, because it's 3D, magnified, with better, smaller instruments that move inside the patient, similar to the human hand," said Dr. Luis Hererra, MD, from Orlando Health Cancer Institute’s Thoracic Surgery department.
Orlando Health officials said the best thing you could do to keep from developing lung cancer is not to smoke. They also said the survival rate was better for cancers detected early.
"Early detection is essential because finding the disease earlier gives the patients more opportunities for a cure," Hererra said.
The American Cancer Society recently widened its guidelines for current and former smokers who should be screened annually. Now, people ages 50 to 80 who've been smoking or smoked a pack a day or more for more than 20 years should get tested every year.