Imagine a cancerous tumor at the center of a bullseye.
If you think about treating it, you want the most precise shot, focusing on the tumor itself and the margins directly around the tumor — without harming any unnecessary healthy tissue, or nearby vital organs, like the heart or the lungs.
That, in a nutshell, is what CyberKnife, a form of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) backed by three decades of research, does. It locks in on the cancer to destroy it while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.
And that’s precisely why the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami – the premier, and leading cancer radiation treatment center in South Florida – believe when it comes to treating your cancer, precision matters, and CyberKnife is at the forefront of precision.
Mission Possible: CyberKnife for Cancer Treatment
“I feel it is my mission to try to help patients understand that cancer is not a death sentence. We have many weapons to help battle this disease and CyberKnife is one of the most powerful,” says Dr. Mark Pomper, board-certified radiation oncologist and medical director of CyberKnife Miami.
CyberKnife’s missile guidance technology tracks a tumor’s movement in real time. The technology also delivers the highest dose of radiation possible to the tumor, while leaving healthy surrounding tissue unharmed.
“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, the maker of CyberKnife states.
CyberKnife takes real-time images of a tumor to accurately track it with every breath. Then the robotic arm delivers pinpointed radiation directly to the tumor.
“The patient could change their position or move their head, even slightly. The patient could cough. Muscles tense and relax. The CyberKnife System is the only device designed to accommodate all forms of patient and tumor motion, even while the treatment is being delivered. With its motion adaptive delivery technology, the CyberKnife System enables smaller treatment margins around the tumor, minimizing the amount of healthy tissue exposed to high-dose radiation,” says Accuray, the maker of CyberKnife.
CyberKnife can be used to treat cancers of the prostate, lungs, breast, kidneys, pancreas, head and neck, lymph nodes and brain as well as other metastatic cancers and medical conditions like trigeminal neuralgia where radiation may be needed.
Plus, instead of spending weeks or months getting daily radiation treatments, with CyberKnife, most often treatment takes about 10 days because of its high-dose, pinpointed radiation.
Patients typically get one treatment every other day, so you get cancer treatment behind you much faster.
Here are other advantages of CyberKnife:
- It’s noninvasive.
- There are no risks of infection or long periods of downtime like there is with surgery.
- Treatments are outpatient and last 30 to 60 minutes.
- Side effects are minimal and may include fatigue and nausea.
- These side effects can be treated with medication if they occur. You just have to ask your doctor.
- Patients can be treated repeatedly with CyberKnife. That means if a tumor returns, a patient can be treated again.
- Plus, patients have the least disruption to their life and maintain quality of life while undergoing CyberKnife treatment.
Cancer treatment, Miami Florida
At CyberKnife Miami we believe precision and experience go hand in hand.
“Some medical or cancer centers that have CyberKnife technology do not have as much experience as we have using it. So, they get scared when they see a big tumor and think it is not worth treating or are worried about complications. Other doctors feel if it is incurable why be aggressive? We feel the opposite. We feel why not try. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, including the most precious gift of all, time,” says Dr. Mark Pomper, board-certified radiation oncologist and medical director of CyberKnife Miami.
“Because this is what we do all day, every day, we know what can and cannot be treated, and at the very least we are going to give it our best try,” says Dr. Pomper.
If you would like to find out more about treatment with CyberKnife, call us at 305-279-2900 or go to our website now for more information www.cyberknifemiami.com.