Brain Cancer
Sub-millimeters matter. Choose CyberKnife precision.
When it comes to the delicate and complex tissues and structures of the brain, precision matters. The CyberKnife System gives you a proven, non-surgical option for treating your brain tumor while helping to protect your quality of life, including your cognitive abilities, such as remembering things and concentrating, that may be negatively impacted with whole brain radiotherapy.
Delivering stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatments with unrivaled, sub-millimeter accuracy, the CyberKnife provides excellent clinical outcomes in treating a wide range of brain tumors — in fewer visits and with a significantly lower risk of the most common side effects of traditional surgery and radiotherapy treatments.
Key CyberKnife treatment benefits
- Non-surgical and non-invasive
- No head frame is required
- Good cancer control
- Reduced incidence of common cognitive side effects
- Treatments may be completed in as little as 1-5 sessions within 1-2 weeks
- Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
- Typically does not require interruption of chemotherapy cycles or immunotherapy treatments
- Patients previously treated with whole brain radiotherapy may be candidates for CyberKnife SRS treatment
- Patients previously treated with SRS may be candidates for CyberKnife SRS in other areas of the brain
Side Effects
Treatment with the CyberKnife System is well-tolerated with a low risk of toxicity. Side effects associated with CyberKnife treatment are usually mild and temporary. As with any radiation treatment, side effects can also be severe in some patients and lead to permanent injury or even death. Discuss your specific case with your physician/s to fully understand the potential risks associated with your treatment.
Liver Cancer
Unrivaled precision to protect liver function.
The liver has many important functions in the body. That’s why when treating liver cancer, it’s important to avoid damaging normal liver tissue as much as possible. Advanced radiation techniques, such as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) delivered with the CyberKnife System, provide physicians with an option to effectively treat the tumor while minimizing radiation to nearby healthy tissues.
The CyberKnife System, the world’s only robotic radiosurgery system, offers a proven, non-surgical approach to the treatment of liver tumors. Throughout the treatment, the CyberKnife System’s unique real-time motion synchronization technology tracks the position of the tumor and simultaneously moves the robot to adapt the delivery of the radiation beam precisely to the moving target. Abdominal tumors, such as liver tumors, move with a patient’s respiration. Preserving as much healthy liver tissue as possible makes the ability to track, detect, and adapt for this motion critically important. The CyberKnife System’s robotic design and motion synchronization technology enable the delivery of radiation with extreme precision.
This surgical-like precision is key to providing the best possible long-term cancer control, while minimizing dose to surrounding healthy tissues to reduce the risk of side effects and preserve liver function. CyberKnife treatment may be an ideal option for patients who cannot undergo surgery and/or whose tumors cannot be completely removed with surgery. The CyberKnife System can also be used as a bridge to transplantation.
Key CyberKnife® treatment benefits
- Non-surgical and non-invasive
- Good results for inoperable tumors
- Treatments typically completed in 1-5 treatment sessions on consecutive days
- Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
Side Effects
Most radiation side effects are minimal and last only a short time. Side effects can, however, be severe.
Pancreas Cancer
A proven treatment for inoperable pancreatic cancer.
The last few years have seen advances in the treatment of pancreatic cancer — particularly for the 80% or more of patients for whom surgery is not the best option. The CyberKnife System gives those living with pancreatic cancer a proven, non-surgical option that delivers a unique type of treatment called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) with high robotic precision — effectively treating the cancer, while potentially helping to minimize the risk of certain side effects (such as gastric obstruction), in typically as little as 5 treatments. This makes the CyberKnife System a powerful option for locally advanced, medically inoperable pancreatic cancers, as well as in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments.
Unmatched precision — where it matters most.
The pancreas is an organ in the abdomen surrounded by other sensitive organs that all move with patients’ breathing. As a result, treatments designed to control the cancer or manage cancer-related pain run the risk of causing unfortunate side effects if they are not precisely administered. The CyberKnife System, the first and only robotic radiotherapy system, can deliver radiation beams with sub-millimeter precision and accuracy to the pancreatic tumor as it moves with normal patient breathing or other anatomical shifts. The CyberKnife System uses the world’s only real-time motion synchronization technology to continually track the target and automatically adapt the radiation beams position with movement of the tumor to make sure the beam stays precisely focused. This unmatched precision enables clinical teams to aggressively treat pancreatic cancer and helps to improve clinical outcomes, while potentially minimizing the risk of certain side effects that may impact patients’ quality of life.
Key CyberKnife® treatment benefits
- Radiation treatment is non-surgical and non-invasive
- Clinical evidence of good cancer control
- Can significantly minimize common side effects, such as gastric or duodenal obstruction
- Treatments typically completed in as little as 5 sessions
- Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
- Typically, does not require interruption of chemotherapy cycles
- Can be used in combination with surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments
Potential side effects of CyberKnife® treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Most radiation side effects are minimal and last only a short time.
Prostate Cancer
You have more options than ever for successfully treating prostate cancer. The “best” option for you is the one that fits your life — from the specifics of your cancer and your overall health, to your age and lifestyle. The CyberKnife® System was designed to help you gain control over your prostate cancer in the shortest number of physician visits and with as little impact on your romantic life or urinary and bowel function as possible. The result? You get back to a healthy, full life, faster.
Key CyberKnife® treatment benefits
- Excellent long-term cancer control
- Significantly reduced incidence of sexual, urinary and bowel function side effects
- Non-surgical and non-invasive
- Treatments completed in as little as 4-5 sessions across 1-2 weeks
- Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
Potential side effects of CyberKnife treatment for prostate cancer
Most radiation side effects are minimal and last only a short time. Side effects can, however, sometimes be severe because of rectum or bladder wall exposure to radiation.
Ask your doctor for more details about potential side effects associated with your specific radiation therapy treatment.
Lung
Unrivaled precision — where it matters most.
One of the biggest challenges in lung cancer treatment remains effectively treating the cancer, while minimizing impact on the
many sensitive tissues and vital organs that surround the lungs. Precision is critical — and that’s what makes the CyberKnife System so unique. The CyberKnife System is the only robotic radiation delivery system that incorporates Synchrony® Respiratory Technology, enabling the system to automatically and continually track and synchronize treatment delivery to motion to keep the radiation precisely targeted on the tumor as it moves with your natural breathing. The CyberKnife System is a leading technology in SBRT, a specialized type of radiation therapy, used to routinely treat lung cancers and metastases. The system provides a proven, non-surgical option for treating early stage, inoperable non-small cell lung cancer, tumors in challenging anatomical locations such as central lung tumors surrounded by sensitive structures and lung tumors near the chest wall, and inoperable peripheral lung tumors. CyberKnife SBRT may also be an option for those patients seeking an alternative to surgery.
Key CyberKnife® treatment benefits
- Radiation treatment is non-surgical and non-invasive
- Good cancer control
- Significantly reduced incidence of common side effects such as shortness of breath, swallowing difficulties or a sore throat
- Treatments are typically completed in as little as 3 to 4 sessions across 1 to 2 weeks
- Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
Potential side effects of CyberKnife® treatment for lung cancer:
Most radiation side effects are minimal and last only a short time.
Ask your doctor for more details about potential side effects associated with your specific radiation therapy treatment.
Managing side effects with your medical team:
Prior to beginning CyberKnife treatment, your medical team will discuss all possible side effects and may prescribe medication to control any side effects, should they occur.
Protecting healthy tissue — protecting quality of life
Despite the higher dose rate associated with SBRT, multiple studies have validated that CyberKnife SBRT is well tolerated with minimal side effects. Unlike any other radiation treatment, the CyberKnife System continually tracks the target and automatically corrects the radiation beam for movement of the tumor in real-time throughout the entire treatment session. With this automatic motion tracking and synchronization, the CyberKnife System enhances your treatment team’s ability to maximize the radiation dose delivered to the target — while minimizing dose to surrounding healthy tissues to reduce side-effects that can impact quality of life both during and after treatment. The majority of patients can continue normal activity during and immediately following treatment.
Spine
Unrivalled precision when it matters most
The spinal cord relays messages from the brain to different parts of your body, allowing your organs to function and enabling you to control your movements, such as walking. That’s why when it comes to treating tumors in or near the complex and delicate tissues, and structures, of the spine, precision matters. The CyberKnife® System is a non-invasive, non-surgical, pain-free treatment option for treating cancers and/or metastases at any point on the spine — including complicated neurosurgical cases.
What is CyberKnife treatment?
The CyberKnife System is the first and only radiotherapy device that brings true robotic precision and the ability to track, detect and adapt for tumor motion in real-time, to the treatment of cancer. The system treats spine lesions with a procedure called stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in a single or just a few sessions, delivering high doses of precisely targeted radiation to destroy the tumors, while minimizing radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissues surrounding the tumor. The CyberKnife Systems delivers effective tumor control and may provide significant pain relief following treatment of spine tumors.1 The unrivaled, sub-millimeter accuracy of CyberKnife SRS enables patients who are ineligible for surgery, or whose tumors cannot be completely removed surgically, to receive treatment.
Key CyberKnife® treatment benefits
- Non-surgical and non-invasive
- Very good local control of the tumor
- Significantly reduced incidence of common side effects
- Treatments typically completed in 1-5 treatment sessions in 1-2 weeks
- Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
Potential side effects of CyberKnife® treatment for spine cancer:
Treatment with the CyberKnife System is well-tolerated with a low risk of toxicity. Side effects associated with CyberKnife treatment are usually mild and temporary. As with any radiation treatment, side effects can also be severe in some patients and lead to permanent injury or even death. Discuss your specific case with your physician(s) to fully understand the potential risks associated with your treatment. Possible side effects could include, but are not limited to:
- Fatigue
- Temporary skin changes such as redness, tenderness, itchiness, or rash
- Dysphagia (inability to eat) for patients with upper spine treatments
- Esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus) for patients with upper spine treatments
- Transient myelitis (may require corticosteroid treatment)
- Spinal cord injury
- Spinal cord (bone) injury
- Exposure to nearby tissue
- Tingling
Ask your doctor for more details about potential side effects associated with your specific radiation therapy treatment.
Managing side effects with your medical team
Prior to beginning CyberKnife treatment, your medical team will discuss all possible side effects and may prescribe medication to control any side effects, should they occur.
Protecting healthy tissue — protecting quality of life.
Treatment with the CyberKnife System is well-tolerated with a low risk of toxicity. Despite the high dose rate associated with SRS, the CyberKnife has been proven to deliver radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy, which means minimal radiation is delivered to the healthy tissues that surround the spinal tumor or the spinal cord itself.