About CyberKnife

A Basic Overview on the CyberKnife System

An Effective, Pain-Free Cancer Solution in Los Angeles

Today’s revolutionary cancer treatment technologies mean that you no longer have to anticipate immediate and certain surgery when diagnosed with cancer. This technological breakthrough gives doctors the flexibility to recommend CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System as a treatment option – either by itself, or in conjunction with other treatment methods. CyberKnife is non-invasive, administered in a comfortable setting requiring no surgery or hospital stay. It is extraordinarily accurate, using a pinpoint laser and imaging system. And, it’s highly effective, clinically proven for both cancerous and noncancerous tumors.

Convenient Cancer Treatment Without Surgery

Although the name may lead you to believe otherwise, the CyberKnife system does not require a knife or cutting of any kind. Instead, it “cuts” through to your cancerous cells using high doses of radiation beamed directly to your tumor while you rest on our comfortable treatment couch. Since there is no surgery, there is no chance for surgical infections, minimal to no pain, no anesthesia, and no hospital stay.

What Does CyberKnife Treat?

Not only is CyberKnife administered comfortably, it has a faster recovery time than surgery or other conventional radiation treatments. With CyberKnife, your cancer treatment will only include one short treatment per day, for one to five days. Other radiation treatments may include one treatment per day for up to 60 days. After each treatment, most patients can get back to their normal daily lives immediately.

Besides the benefits of CyberKnife as an alternative to surgery, doctors have found CyberKnife equally as effective for use together with surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments. Unlike many other forms of radiation treatment, the CyberKnife system can also be used as a retreatment for recurrent cancers, even after previous radiation.

If you’ve been diagnosed with an inoperable or hard-to-reach tumor, if you just aren’t physically a good candidate for surgery, or if you just don’t want to go through the risks of surgery, the CyberKnife could be the cancer treatment that is best for you.

The Most Precise Radiation Treatment Available

The CyberKnife system is unique in the way it orchestrates sophisticated software, a real-time imaging system, and a flexible robotic arm to pinpoint your tumor and deliver radiation directly to your cancerous cells. Conventional radiation systems are big and bulky as they move around your body to deliver radiation doses. Because the CyberKnife has a flexible robotic arm, it can position itself to the exact location and angle it needs to beam higher doses of radiation to your tumor. And, the imaging system tracks your tumor in real-time, adjusting for even the slightest movement and locking in on the affected area without interruption. This precision is not only more effective at killing the cancerous cells, it avoids damaging the surrounding healthy tissue creating less potential side effects than traditional radiation. Because CyberKnife is made to move with your body and the tumor, there is no need for stabilizing frames pinned to your head, body casts or breathing-limitation devices that try to limit your movement.

Clinically Proven Effective

You may hear your doctor refer to SRS or SRT (stereotactic radiotherapy) if you have a tumor in or near the brain, head/neck or spinal cord, and SBRT (stereotactic body radiotherapy) or SABR (stereotactic ablative radiotherapy) when talking about treating tumors in other parts of the body. This is because most systems can only treat tumors in certain parts of the body. CyberKnife is the only dedicated robotic radiosurgery system available today that can deliver this precise radiation anywhere in the body, including hard-to-find spots in the brain, head, neck, spine, lung, prostate, liver, pancreas, and other soft tissue. Most importantly, you can trust that CyberKnife will work, as it is clinically proven effective in treating cancer.

CyberKnife Treats Most Types of Cancer

The radiation oncologists at Pasadena CyberKnife Center are experts at using the CyberKnife system in treating all types of cancer in their comfortable outpatient cancer treatment center. CyberKnife is clinically proven effective in treating:

  • Lung Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Metastatic Breast Cancer
  • Benign and malignant Brain Cancers
  • Acoustic Neuroma
  • Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)
  • Trigeminal Neuralgia
  • Spinal Tumors
  • Head and Neck Cancer
  • Liver Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Kidney Cancer
  • Pelvic Tumors
  • Recurrent Tumors
  • Reirradiation
  • Metastatic Tumors

Benefits Of Pasadena CyberKnife Cancer Treatment

Step-By-Step With CyberKnife

  1. Once diagnosed with cancer, you or your doctor will contact the specialists at Pasadena CyberKnife Center.
  2. A consultation with your Pasadena CyberKnife Center’s cancer specialists and the rest of your team will determine the best approach for your specific situation.
  3. Your team of medical professionals will work with you to develop a treatment plan that is right for you.
  4. If needed, your team may place a tiny gold marker near your tumor(s) to help identify exact location(s) during treatment. This is done only for tumors in the liver, pancreas, kidney and prostate.
  5. Imaging is performed to simulate the size, location and density of your tumor and used for the customized treatment plan.
  6. Using the images, data is digitally transferred to the CyberKnife System where your Pasadena CyberKnife Center’s doctors and medical team create a plan to match the radiation dose to the tumor and limit exposure to surrounding healthy tissue and organs.
  7. During treatments at Pasadena CyberKnife Center, the computer-controlled robot, assisted by the highly trained radiation therapy technician, will carefully move around you, beaming high doses of radiation directly to your tumors. The system will take continuous X-
  8. rays to track and follow any movement of the tumors, and correct for the slightest movement before each radiation beam is delivered.
  9. Most CyberKnife patients experience no side-effects after any of their one to five treatments.

Find Out More About CyberKnife Treatment!

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you owe it to yourself to investigate the benefits that CyberKnife could bring to you. Call CyberKnife today at (626)768-1021 to schedule a visit to our Pasadena office. Our cancer experts are available to answer all of your questions and find out more about your specific case. See what other Los Angeles area patients have to say about Pasadena CyberKnife Center. CyberKnife can offer you a non-invasive, non-surgical, highly-effective radiation therapy that targets your tumors, leaving your healthy cells alone. We look forward to evaluating your cancer diagnosis and providing you with the best possible treatment outcomes.