It’s quick. It’s painless. It’s covered by most insurance companies, and it’s among the best-kept secrets in treating cancer. The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) was developed at Stanford University. The technology’s robotic arm moves around the patient delivering about 200 high-dose beams of radiation from all different angles to target and destroy tumors almost anywhere in the body, including the prostate.
The CyberKnife Center of Miami was the first CyberKnife center to open in South Florida in 2003 and has treated more than 4000 patients, making our team among the most experienced world wide.
The CyberKnife treatment is as painless as having an X-ray, yet has a higher cure rate for prostate cancer than surgery or conventional radiation, according to a recent five-year study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
The five-year cure rate for prostate cancer treatments such as surgery or radiation range from 80 to 90 percent, whereas the CyberKnife, or stereotactic body radiation therapy for prostate cancer found a 98.6 percent cure rate, showed the findings, published in the European Journal of Cancer.
95% success rate
Previous studies from Stanford University and the University of California in Los Angeles showed success rates of 95 percent for low-risk and 84 percent for intermediate-risk prostate cancer.
A study from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York of 300 patients reported no serious acute side effects and a 2 percent rate of urinary side effects. Ten percent of patients experienced less severe side effects.
Since opening our doors more than 20 years ago we have used CyberKnife to treat all types of tumors, cancerous and non-cancerous, including lung and pancreatic cancer, brain and spine tumors, liver cancer, to eliminate trigeminal neuralgia pain, acoustic neuromas, AVMs, among other things.
We’re even using CyberKnife to ease the pain of osteoarthritis, preventing joint replacement and getting patients off of anti-inflammatory and pain meds, restoring their mobility without pain.
Unfortunately, few people know about stereotactic body radiation therapy as a treatment option for cancer because it’s not available at all medical centers. Here is a link to find a CyberKnife center near you.
As more people are becoming informed about CyberKnife as a treatment option, they are asking for it and even demanding it.
Our patients are the biggest promoters of CyberKnife like David who says, “The treatments were easy, no pain, or immediate side effects. I’d go into the cancer center every other day at 8:00 in the morning and they set you up on the CyberKnife table. I’d just lay there and relax, close my eyes and listen to the very tasteful spa music while the robot did its work. Those 45 minutes were actually very restful. Right afterwards, I didn’t have any fatigue and I was off to the gym. The only side effect I had after the 5 treatments is, when nature called, it was heads up, you had one to two minutes to find a bush.” (He laughs) “That lasted about three weeks. Dr. Mark Pomper, my radiation oncologist at CyberKnife Miami told me to take an over the counter medication and that solved that. It’s been fantastic, and the best part is the results. My PSA dropped from 11.3 to 1.3 in three months.”
He adds, “If you’re on the fence, or confused about what cancer center to go with, and you are a candidate for CyberKnife treatment, I can tell you this, these folks at CyberKnife Miami know what they’re doing, and they really treat you right. I’m grateful I found them. Fortunately I’ve had good health all my life until now, but a lot of guys in my social circle have this same issue, so I tell them my CyberKnife story. I feel like I won the lottery.”
Anyone interested in the CyberKnife treatment for prostate cancer cam call the CyberKnife Center of Miami at 305-279-2900.