In recent decades, advances in medical technology have made treatment for cancerous tumors much more tolerable and in many cases, all the more effective. This is particularly true when it comes to the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) – particularly the CyberKnife® system.
Despite its name, CyberKnife radiosurgery does not involve a knife or any incisions. Rather, it is a form of radiation therapy that tightly focuses high-powered energy on a small area of the body – namely the location of a tumor.
Hundreds of beams target the tumor from all different angles, hitting only the tumor site. The combined beams have an immense effect, destroying cancerous cells.
It thereby minimizes, if not totally prevents, any damage to nearby healthy tissue. It is a cancer treatment that is often recommended for patients who are at too high of a risk for conventional surgery, such as the elderly, those with other additional health problems, or those whose cancer is too close to vital body structures.
Since it is painless, CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery treatment requires no anesthesia. The patient simply lies on the CyberKnife bed while radiation is delivered by a computer-controlled robotic arm, which focuses the radiation precisely on the area being treated. The entire procedure lasts from 30 minutes to an hour (depending on the size and type of cancer), and it usually requires no more than five sessions.
CyberKnife Radiation Surgery Advantage
Often used to slow down the tumor’s growth or to destroy tumors that are difficult to remove during conventional surgery, CyberKnife is unlike other types of radiation therapy.
For one thing, CyberKnife treatment poses little, if any, risk to nearby healthy tissues. That’s because its advanced imaging technology targets the tumor with pinpoint accuracy via multiple beams. In fact, CyberKnife is so precise and flexible that it automatically adjusts to any body movements, however slight (such as normal breathing) to remain fixed within a single millimeter of its target.
This ability to precisely target its delivery of radiation provides several important benefits:
· It enables more high-dose radiation to the target region for faster, more effective treatment than with standard radiation therapy.
· It significantly reduces radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue than with traditional radiation therapy.
· CyberKnife is safe and effective for other conditions and tumors that cannot be treated with traditional radiation because they’re too close to other critical tissues, such as in the brain, lungs, heart, kidney, or liver.
· CyberKnife’s technology is specially designed to integrate and review results from various forms of imaging, such as CT, MRI, and PET scans, for the purpose of precisely targeting and delivering its radiation beams.
· CyberKnife is safe to use in treating a variety of tumors of the brain and nervous system, such as a cancer that has metastasized (spread) to the brain from another body part, spinal cord tumors, pituitary gland tumors, or acoustic neuromas (a slow-growing tumor on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain). It can also treat cancers of the breast, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, prostate, and other organs.
The typical CyberKnife SRS treatment session is so painless and comfortable that once it’s over, the patient can immediately resume his or her normal activities. There is no downtime and few, if any, minor side effects that quickly diminish. The most common is slight fatigue which goes away quickly too.
CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Miami
For more than 30 years, CyberKnife SRS has provided effective treatment to cancer patients across the globe. This special treatment is available in Miami to treat your cancer too.
To learn more and to schedule a consultation, contact our expert team at the CyberKnife Center of Miami at (800) 204-0455 or (305) 279-2900 or use our contact form online now. You can also learn more about us and this life saving technology on our website www.cyberknifemiami.com
We look forward to showing you how we can treat your cancer without surgery!