The CyberKnife at LCRP Now Fights Prostate Cancer Course of treatment lasts only five sessions The only cancer center in the region to offer the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System has expanded its capabilities and now offers non-invasive treatment for some prostate cancer patients.
Full Answer
What is CyberKnife® prostate cancer treatment?
The CyberKnife System is a non-invasive, non-surgical, pain-free treatment option for prostate cancer with proven results. It is the first and only radiotherapy device that brings true robotic precision and the ability to track, detect and correct for tumor motion in real-time, to the treatment of cancer.
Is CyberKnife treatment right for You?
Find a physician in your area offering the CyberKnife System — and find out if CyberKnife treatment is right for you. The CyberKnife System is a non-invasive, non-surgical, pain-free treatment option for prostate cancer with proven results.
How many men have been treated with CyberKnife?
The CyberKnife is commonly used for treating low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer and is the only radiotherapy device supported by years of published clinical follow-up with a large number of patients. More than 20,000 men have been treated with CyberKnife. 1 Meier.
How long does CyberKnife take to work?
CONVENTIONAL RADIATION THERAPY CyberKnife treatment is completed in as little as 4-5 sessions over 1-2 weeks, compared to 30-40 sessions over 8-10 weeks with conventional radiation therapy. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.
Does insurance cover CyberKnife treatment?
The CyberKnife procedure, like other stereotactic radiosurgery, is generally covered by most insurance plans as well as Medicare.
How much does a CyberKnife system cost?
authorized it for use throughout the body. Accuray, as well as hospitals and clinics that operate the CyberKnife machines, which cost $3 million to $5 million, have been promoting their use on various cancers, including lung and pancreatic cancer — and, increasingly, prostate cancer.
What is the success rate of CyberKnife for prostate cancer?
Results from the study showed that intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients treated with CyberKnife had a disease-free survival rate of 97.1 percent five years after treatment. For low-risk prostate cancer patients treated with CyberKnife, the five-year disease-free survival rate was 97.3 percent.
Where is CyberKnife performed?
It is used to treat conditions throughout the body, including the prostate, lung, brain, spine, head and neck, liver, pancreas and kidney, and can be an alternative to surgery or for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumors.
What insurance does CyberKnife take?
Similar to other forms of radiotherapy and surgical treatment, stereotactic radiosurgery treatments, including CyberKnife®, are usually covered by Medicare and most private insurances.
How Much Does Medicare pay for CyberKnife?
The average cost to Medicare for CyberKnife prostate cancer treatment is $29,000, Saul reported.
Can prostate cancer come back after CyberKnife?
The two major types of prostate cancer recurrence that can be treated using CyberKnife are local and distant. Prostate cancer recurrences in the tissue surrounding the prostate, such as in the seminal vesicles, pelvic floor muscles or rectum, are known as local recurrences.
Who is a candidate for CyberKnife for prostate cancer?
It's a good option for early-stage or low-grade prostate cancer. CyberKnife may be a better choice if you can't have anesthesia or if your anatomy makes brachytherapy difficult. If you have treatment with CyberKnife, you may need other therapies as well.
What are some disadvantages of the CyberKnife?
Potential side effects of CyberKnife® treatment for lung cancerFatigue.Breathing difficulties.Cough.Hemoptysis (coughing up blood)Radiation pneumonitis.Radiation fibrosis.Complications (such as pneumothorax) resulting from fiducial marker insertion.Exposure to airways and/or nearby tissue.
What is the success rate of CyberKnife?
As a primary treatment Cyberknife can achieve a local control of nearly 90% in patients with a median follow up of 18 months. Radicular pain has been relieved in 25–85% of patients and neurological deficits improved to a lesser degree.
How long are CyberKnife sessions?
Treatments are performed on an outpatient basis, with each treatment lasting between 30 to 90 minutes. The number of treatments vary depending on the tumor size, location and shape, but typically only one to five daily sessions are required.
Is CyberKnife better than radiation?
Cyberknife Is More Accurate Than Traditional Radiation Therapy. Because it's able to target diseased tissue, Cyberknife SBRT is much more accurate than traditional radiation therapy. SBRT can deliver radiation to a margin of one to five millimeters surrounding a tumor.
What is Involved in Cyberknife Treatment?
You will see a urologist a week or two before treatment. This doctor will place gold markers, known as "fiducials", in your prostate as a way of marking the target. This is done under ultrasound guidance, similar to the procedure for prostate biopsy. The tumor position will be tracked during the Cyberknife treatment using the fiducials.
What is Cyberknife?
Cyberknife is a treatment using external beam radiation. It is the brand name of a machine that delivers stereotactic radiation therapy or "radiosurgery." Despite the name, Cyberknife does not involve a knife, cutting, or surgery for treatment. It uses a linear accelerator (a machine that makes radiation) on a robotic arm that allows the radiation beam to be delivered from thousands of directions. Cyberknife uses real-time image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) in order to treat tumors in different parts of the body, including the prostate. What this means is that the motion of the tumor is tracked, and the radiation can be directed and delivered accurately based on the motion of the tumor.
What is the size of a prostate?
A prostate volume (size) of less than 80-100 cm.
Is prostate cancer a slow growing tumor?
In addition, prostate cancer is a slower-growing tumor. Because prostate cancer cells are growing slowly, they may be more sensitive to higher doses of radiation per fraction than other cancers. This means that delivering radiation in larger doses in fewer treatment sessions may improve outcomes.
What is the CyberKnife?
The CyberKnife System is a robot that delivers a unique form of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy also known as radiosurgery. It is the only radiation therapy technology that continuously tracks tumor motion and automatically corrects the aim of the treatment beam when movement is detected. The CyberKnife Radiosurgery System delivers radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy through the use of continual image guidance and robotic mobility. As a result, the radiation is directed to where it counts most, the prostate, and the radiation dose falls off steeply around the healthy tissue that surrounds the prostate.
Does Cyberknife work for prostate cancer?
The only cancer center in the region to offer the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System has expanded its capabilities and now offers non-invasive treatment for some prostate cancer patients.#N#Patients at the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion at St. Joseph’s/Candler could be eligible for a drastically-reduced number of radiation treatments and no surgery.#N#The power and accuracy of the CyberKnife gives prostate cancer patients a fantastic and seriously effective treatment option, so patients can stay in their community and be near the support system of their loved ones.#N#CyberKnife treatment for prostate cancer is recommended for low- and intermediate-risk patients. In general, that means those with a Gleason score of seven or less. Please consult your doctor to determine what course of treatment is best for you.
Does the body stop moving during prostate surgery?
The body doesn't stop moving during treatment and this movement in the past has been a challenge for doctors. With the CyberKnife, a special gold fiducial is placed in the prostate so the radiation beam can robotically follow the prostate’s movements. Reduced treatment time.
Is Cyberknife surgery required?
Non-invasive procedure. For patients who are good candidates, no surgery is required. The patient lies comfortably while the robot moves automatically in nearly every direction around the body to deliver the prescribed treatment dose. CyberKnife treatment for prostate cancer is completely pain free.
What is the challenge of treating cancer of the walnut-sized prostate gland?
One of the challenges of treating cancer of the walnut-sized prostate gland is that the prostate’s position changes with the movement of other organs in the body.
Is Cyberknife radiation used for prostate cancer?
Currently, the CyberKnife Radiosurgery System is most frequently used as a single therapy for patients with early-stage prostate cancer confined to the prostate, or in combination with another therapy – such as external beam radiation or hormonal – for patients with disease that extends beyond the prostate.
Can Flomax be used for prostate cancer?
Physicians will discuss all possible side effects with their patients prior to treatment. Most patients will be placed on Flomax to minimize the risk of experiencing temporary side effects of prostate CyberKnife therapy such as reduced urinary stream, burning with urination and frequent urination. In addition, any other side effects taht arise despite Flomax preventative therapy can be managed with other medications.
What is CyberKnife?
The CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System is a powerful tool that provides a non-invasive alternative to conventional surgery for the treatment of both malignant and benign tumors located anywhere in the body. The CyberKnife allows us to definitively treat these tumors with high rates of control, which appear comparable to surgery, while maintaining a remarkably low risk of side effects. The CyberKnife is able to accomplish this by precisely delivering high doses of radiation to the tumor, thereby preserving much of the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. The CyberKnife is the only commercially available system that is capable of “real-time tracking” that allows us to accurately account for tumor motion that occurs with breathing or other normal body movements that result in the change in the position of the tumor.
How can I know whether CyberKnife is right for me?
You and your physician should talk with a radiation oncologist to determine whether CyberKnife treatment is indicated for your cancer or other medical condition. Call the CyberKnife coordinator at (260) 266-9165 to schedule a consultation with an expert member of the CyberKnife Team.
What are the benefits of CyberKnife treatment?
Since 2006, more than 680 patients have been treated with ROA's CyberKnife, experiencing these significant benefits:
How long does a cyberknife treatment last?
Treatments last, on average, from 45 to 90 minutes. During your outpatient visits, you will simply lie quietly on a special table as the CyberKnife arm moves around you to deliver your treatment, guided by your physician and a radiation technologist.
How many treatments does Cyberknife require?
It typically requires 10 to 45 treatments. CyberKnife’s more intense, tightly focused beams of high-dose X-ray/photon energy are delivered from many points around the body, all concentrating on the tumor, so damage to the surrounding tissue is minimized. Usually only one to five treatments are needed.
What are the diseases that can be treated with a cyberknife?
Among these are: Cancers involving the brain, liver cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, head and neck cancer, and cancers of the spine and other soft-tissue sites. Certain benign tumors. Malformations of blood vessels within the brain or spine.
What is robotic radiosurgery?
Robotic radiosurgery is a non-surgical treatment using a robotic arm with six degrees of freedom to deliver dozens to hundreds of very focused pencil-thin beams of high-energy photons to tumors or lesions deep within the body. This technology allows us to deliver very high doses of radiation to the target while minimizing the dose to the normal surrounding tissues. The CyberKnife system does not require the use of an invasive stereotactic head frame used with other systems, thereby eliminating any pain with the procedure. However, certain tumors may require needle placement of tiny markers to allow the CyberKnife to track the tumor as it moves within the body.
What is a cyberknife?
What is CyberKnife? CyberKnife is a brand name for a device that delivers stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). It’s a form of external beam radiation. It can be used to treat prostate cancer and other types of cancer. Although it contains the word “knife” and is sometimes referred to as “radiosurgery,” there’s no knife or incision.
What is Cyberknife ultrasound?
This will be similar to when you had your biopsy. CyberKnife will use the markers to track the tumor during treatment. Then you’ll need some imaging tests to assess the location, size, and shape of the tumor.
How long does it take to recover from prostate surgery?
There’s no extended recovery period. Another type of radiation used for prostate surgery is brachytherapy. It involves implanting radioactive pellets in your prostate. The pellets release radiation over a period of days or weeks. It’s a good option for early-stage or low-grade prostate cancer.
Is Cyberknife good for prostate cancer?
It’s a good option for early-stage or low-grade prostate cancer. CyberKnife may be a better choice if you can’ t have anesthesia or if your anatomy makes brachytherapy difficult. If you have treatment with CyberKnife, you may need other therapies as well.
What to do if you have cancer after SBRT?
If there’s still evidence of cancer after SBRT, your doctor will make some recommendations on the next steps.
Do you need anesthesia for prostate surgery?
There’s no need for anesthesia or a hospital stay . As soon as it’s over, you can get up and return to your normal activities. It’s a lot less time-consuming than conventional radiation or chemotherapy. There’s no extended recovery period. Another type of radiation used for prostate surgery is brachytherapy.
Is there a knife in a SBRT?
Although it contains the word “knife” and is sometimes referred to as “radiosurgery,” there’s no knife or incision. SBRT is an image-guided technique of delivering high doses of radiation with extreme accuracy. The purpose is to kill cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissues and organs.
What is Cyberknife SBRT?
CyberKnife SBRT technology utilize s the same basic concepts as IMRT/IGRT, with ceiling-mounted stereotactic X-ray imagers locking on the same implanted gold fiducial markers within the prostate that we described in the IGRT/IMRT section, yet delivers the therapeutic radiation in a more complex, laborious and precise way. The most unique aspect of the CyberKnife device is its capability to continuously track the prostate (or any defined target lesion within the body) by an automated "artificial intelligence" X-ray feedback loop, which continuously updates the location of the prostate fiducial markers throughout the entire treatment. This allows sub-millimeter precision of beam aiming from start to finish. The CyberKnife device treats from a wide variety of beam angles, delivered from a lightweight linear accelerator, which is mounted on a sophisticated and flexible articulating robotic arm. The CyberKnife device and its geometry are illustrated in Figure 1.
How long does it take to complete a prostate radiotherapy?
In contradistinction to "traditional" prostate radiotherapy approaches such as IGRT/IMRT, which typically take 6-9 weeks to complete, CyberKnife SBRT has some very important differences:
Is a fiducial required for Cyberknife prostate?
NOTE: Unlike with IMRT/IGRT, where fiducials may or may not be required, fiducials are mandatory for ALL CyberKnife prostate patients. This is a minimally invasive procedure done under local anesthesia. The implanted fiducials serve as the three-dimensional targeting reference structure for the CyberKnife SBRT process.
Can Cyberknife be used for prostate?
CyberKnife SBRT may also be used as a "boost" to the prostate in conjunction with wide field pelvic IMRT in more advanced lesions (versus a longer course of customized IMRT/IGRT without CyberKnife). Advanced cases tend to call for "individualized" solutions.
Is Cyberknife better than IMRT?
CyberKnife delivers a more potent form of radiation versus standard IMRT/IGRT. Although this is advantageous from a cancer control point of view, there is also a potentially higher risk of prostate swelling and urinary outflow obstruction in patients with preexisting obstructive prostate problems. These patients may be more safely and effectively treated with "conventional" longer course IMRT/IGRT, which is comparatively biologically "gentler" to a patent with this potential complication. This is an individualized consideration, which is part of the evaluation and treatment recommendation process - much more of a concern for patients with significant potential urinary obstructive problems than for those without this issue.
Does Cyberknife use Foley catheter?
NOTE: The simulation process for our prostate CyberKnife patients includes a placement of a Foley catheter in the urethra to allow radiological visualization of its course through the prostate, to enable accurate urethral sparing from the high dose regions. This requirement is unique to CyberKnife patients, due to its more potent and sharp dose gradients within the prostate, and not currently used for our IMRT/IGRT patients, whose intraprostatic radiation dose gradients are comparatively less extreme. In other words, it is more important to map the exact urethra location in CyberKnife patients, so that it may be most accurately spared from the high dose regions.