MedStar Health: CyberKnife at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

The non-surgical CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System destroys tumors using highly precise, targeted radiation, with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Unlike conventional prostate radiation therapy that can take up to 40 sessions, CyberKnife, also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), is complete after only five treatments.

CyberKnife uses a combination of robotics, image guidance systems and computers to deliver highly concentrated doses of radiation to the prostate while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. CyberKnife is the only stereotactic robotic radiosurgery system on the market that adjusts for patient or tumor movement during treatment (intrafraction motion), making it especially suitable for the prostate and convenient for you.

• CyberKnife treatment begins with the implantation in the prostate of four tiny gold fiducials that act as markers or targets for the system’s missile-like rays.
• Afterward, a team of experienced physicians uses MRIs, CT scans and three-dimensional technology to pinpoint the location of your cancer and adjacent critical structures to create a treatment plan.
• A week or two later, you will return for five days of therapy over one to two weeks, with each treatment lasting about 30 minutes.
• You are usually able to resume your normal activities almost immediately.
• Follow-up consists of regularly scheduled PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests and monitoring.

Not only can CyberKnife target tumors that were previously considered unreachable or inoperable, the sophisticated system is a great advancement in patient ease and comfort, offering the following advantages:

• Minimal pain: Because the procedure is a nonsurgical approach, there is no anesthesia, incision, blood loss or recovery time.
• Only five treatments: Not the 40 needed with other forms of radiation therapy.
• No overnight hospitalization: An outpatient treatment, CyberKnife usually allows you to return home the same day.
• Faster and more accurate: Approaching its target from more than 1,400 angles, CyberKnife can deliver high doses of radiation to tumors while avoiding surrounding, healthy tissue.
• Quick recovery times: Get back to your normal life almost immediately, unlike the two-to-four-week recovery period that can be expected following traditional prostate surgery, such as prostatectomy (prostate removal).

Recent research has proven that higher doses of radiation decrease the chance of prostate cancer recurring. CyberKnife’s laser-like accuracy can deliver those highly concentrated doses while avoiding nearby healthy tissue, including such critical structures as the bladder and rectum leading to fewer side effects.

Other studies—including national, multi-institutional protocols, many conducted at MedStar Health—indicate that CyberKnife is as effective as other radiation therapies for treating low-and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients. Another study shows that CyberKnife produces quality-of-life outcomes equivalent to or better than IMRT or seed therapy. As an added benefit, CyberKnife treatment is completed within only five visits.