Ruby Alexander began her fight with breast cancer more than 20 years ago.
Thanks to a non-invasive radiation treatment used by the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami, Ruby has been able to continue fighting her cancer while maintaining a good quality of life. Even though her cancer is stage IV she walks daily, travels to see her grandchild and lives life to the fullest.
“I’ve had stage IV cancer for years. What amazes me is how good I feel; I don’t feel like I’m going to die,” says Ruby.
When Ruby’s cancer was first diagnosed, doctors thought they caught it early and treated it. Five years later it was back – and had spread to her liver and lungs. She opted for chemotherapy and radiation.
But again, the cancer came back. This time showing up in her lymph nodes.
That’s when her neighbor recommended CyberKnife Miami. She feels lucky that she got the suggestion as many cancer patients may not know exists.
“The CyberKnife is often excellent for treating lymph nodes because it tightly targets the area, can be done in very few treatments, doesn’t affect the surrounding tissue and prevents cancer from spreading in that area,” says Dr. Mark Pomper, board certified radiation oncologist and Medical Director at CyberKnife Miami.
Ruby’s advice for battling cancer, especially when it’s metastasized:
“You must be your own patient advocate, ask questions, talk to others, and keep researching treatment options.”
Breast Cancer Treatment Miami
“Breast cancer is an area where women really need to find out what their options are because CyberKnife is an amazing option, which has not really been fully exploited,” says Dr. Pomper.
CyberKnife has been used to treat early-stage breast cancers for 10 plus years with very high success rates, according to Dr. Pomper.
“It is especially useful in ladies who have left-sided cancers, which is close to the heart or with small breasts where you really want to be super precise,” he says.
However, CyberKnife is also an important tool in breast cancer that has metastasized to other parts of the body and especially to the lymph nodes.
“The CyberKnife advantage is that even if an area has been treated with radiation before, we can treat the same area because the technology is so precise. We treat a lot of lymph node lesions at CyberKnife Miami and we treat them very successfully,” Dr. Pomper says. “Some doctors mistakenly tell patients the area can’t be treated if it’s been treated before with other types of radiation. That’s not always true. Those patients should get a second opinion at The CyberKnife Center of Miami.”
Breast Cancer Specialist Miami
CyberKnife Miami offers radiation for stage I and stage II breast cancers as well as metastatic breast cancers.
In early-stage breast cancer, CyberKnife radiotherapy is a faster and safer way to treat breast cancer:
- It offers outstanding tumor control, a better cosmetic result and less radiation exposure to the surrounding vital organs – like the heart and the lungs.
- There is no cutting, no surgery, and no risk of infection.
- Plus, there are only one to five treatments with CyberKnife as opposed to 35 with older types of radiation therapy used by other cancer centers.
For metastatic cancer, because CyberKnife is so precise it can be used even in areas treated before with other types of radiation.
The staff at CyberKnife Miami knows breast cancer is a scary diagnosis and we know it’s also scary when the cancer has spread. We’re ready to partner with you through this challenging time.
If you are interested in learning more about CyberKnife Miami and our breast cancer treatment, call us at 305-279-2900 or go to our website www.cyberknifemiami.com