Imagine, if you will, a cancer treatment that requires no incisions, no anesthesia, no long recovery periods, fewer treatments, minimal side effects and little to no downtime.
It sounds too good to be true. Right? But it’s not, if you’re a candidate for CyberKnife, a form of external beam radiation called stereotactic body radiation therapy or SBRT, and if that’s the treatment path you choose.
CyberKnife offers those benefits with little disruption to a patient’s life, according to the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami, South Florida’s premier outpatient radiation treatment center.
“CyberKnife treatment is completely pain free. There’s no cutting, incisions, blood, anesthesia, catheters and little if any recovery time,” CyberKnife Miami experts say.
The CyberKnife Advantage: Patient Stories
We put patients first, and that’s why they are amazed we do everything we can to fit their treatment times into their timeline and lifestyle, causing the least disruption possible to their lives, while maintaining quality of life.
Just ask Judith, a lung cancer patient who had a recurrence of lung cancer, “With CyberKnife I had no downtime and I didn’t experience any side effects. During the treatments I just laid comfortably on the treatment table, and nodded off. It was a piece of cake compared to what I had been through already.”
Judith says after treatment she was able to resume her daily activities and got back to work right away.
“If the patient is the right candidate,” says Scott, a prostate cancer patient who underwent CyberKnife treatment, “the decision to go with the CyberKnife is a no-brainer.”
Scott says treatment didn’t affect him a great deal. He never felt overly tired. However, he did have urinary urgency for a short time. Still, two days after finishing treatment, he was back on the golf course playing 18 holes with friends.
The CyberKnife Advantage: How CyberKnife Works
During treatment, CyberKnife’s robotic system tracks tumors and moves with the tumor as the patient’s body moves. In other words, it compensates for the slightest movement from the patient – like with each breath – to accurately target a tumor without harming healthy surrounding tissue, and nearby vital organs.
CyberKnife can be used to treat lung, brain, head and neck, spine, liver, pancreas, prostate and kidney cancers, according to Accuray, the maker of CyberKnife. It’s also been proven to help treat acoustic neuromas, benign tumors growing on the nerve for balance and hearing, as well as trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic nerve pain disorder that causes severe facial pain.
“Accurate and precise delivery helps minimize irradiation of the healthy tissues surrounding tumors and potentially the risk of side effects, which may lead to better quality of life for the patient both during and after treatment,” Accuray states.
Yet as Scott and other patients report, depending on the type of cancer you have, there can be some initial side effects with CyberKnife including fatigue and nausea.
Your medical history and type of cancer being treated may make you prone to these side effects.
South Florida Cancer Treatment Center
However, the experts at CyberKnife Miami will be with you every step of the way to ease any unwanted side effects. Most often over the counter medications can eliminate most side effects. Sometimes stronger medications are needed, but rarely.
CyberKnife Miami opened its doors more than 20 years ago and was the first CyberKnife center in the Southeast.
We treat patients from Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties as well as patients from across the country, the Bahamas, and even the world. Patients come here because they hear we are among the most experienced teams worldwide, and that vast experience can make a big difference in your outcome. We know what can and can’t be done and will let you know upfront!
CyberKnife Miami has helped thousands of patients – even patients who were told they couldn’t have any more radiation and patients whose tumors were deemed inoperable, like lung cancer patients and lymph node cancer patients.
CyberKnife treatment can be done on its own or in combination with other therapies depending on the type of cancer.
If you would like to find out more about cancer treatment with CyberKnife, call us at 305-279-2900, and go to our website now for more information www.cyberknifemiami.com.