CyberKnife® radiation therapy

Parkview is home to the region’s only CyberKnife®, a precise and painless outpatient treatment that effectively targets tumors and dramatically reduces procedure time for some patients - with no incisions or pain. CyberKnife delivers focused beams of radiation to the tumor from numerous angles with a high degree of accuracy, preserving the healthy tissue surround the tumor. Typically, only five or fewer outpatient CyberKnife treatments are needed compared to as many as 40 conventional radiation treatments, depending on the tumor or condition. With virtually no recovery period and no side effects, CyberKnife is a powerful weapon in the fight against several types of cancer.

What tumors and conditions are treated with CyberKnife?

CyberKnife radiation therapy can be used to treat many types of tumors, lesions and other conditions throughout the body including:

Cancers in the brain, liver, lung, pancreas, prostate, kidney, head and neck, spine and other soft-tissue sites
Malformations of blood vessels within the brain or spine
Symptomatic functional disorders of the neurological system
Arteriovenous malformation
Bone metastases
Brain tumors
Acoustic neuroma
Brain metastases
Gilomas

Meningioma
Pituitary adenoma
Kidney tumors
Liver tumors
Lung tumors
Ocular/orbital tumors
Pancreatic cancer
Prostate cancer
Spinal tumors
Trigeminal neuralgia
Benign essential tremor

What are the benefits of CyberKnife radiation therapy?

There are many benefits to CyberKnife radiation therapy, including:

Treatment of tumors that were previously considered inoperable or untreatable
Patients can be treated in just a few sessions on an outpatient basis – sometimes in as little as 15 minutes, so patients can go home or return to work the same day
Tumors can be treated without incisions, pain or anesthesia
Lower risk of complications

How does CyberKnife radiation therapy work?

CyberKnife’s intense, tightly focused beams of photon energy are delivered from many points around the body, all concentrating on the tumor, so damage to the surrounding tissue is minimized. Usually only one to five outpatient treatments are needed.

CyberKnife radiation therapy is non-invasive, so there are no incisions and no pain. CyberKnife is able to compensate for patient movement during treatment, so procedures are more comfortable and can be handled on an outpatient basis.

How many outpatient CyberKnife treatments will I have?

Before your course of treatment with CyberKnife, your team of physicians, nurses, radiology staff and other healthcare professionals will create a customized treatment plan.

The number of treatments varies from one person to another, depending on tumor size, location and shape. CyberKnife treatments last from 15 to 90 minutes.

During your outpatient visits, you will simply lie quietly on a special table as the CyberKnife arm moves around you to deliver your treatment, guided by your physician and a radiation technologist. You may wear street clothes, and if you like, you may bring music from home to listen to while you relax.

Who can I call to learn more about CyberKnife treatment?

To find out if CyberKnife radiation therapy is an option for you, ask your doctor for a referral to a CyberKnife physician speciliast. Only a CyberKnife physician specialist can determine whether CyberKnife is an option for you.

To better serve our patients, our CyberKnife physician specialists are available by telephone for those patients who live outside of our area. To see if this is an option for you, contact our CyberKnife coordinator at (260) 266-9165.

CyberKnife® is a registered trademark of Accuray, Inc.

CyberKnife® radiation therapy

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