Expert Cancer Treatment in Pasadena, CA
At Pasadena CyberKnife Center, we are proud to provide world-class cancer treatment to patients throughout the Pasadena and East LA areas. Our team of doctors, radiation oncologists, and cancer specialists works with patients on an individual to design a personalized treatment plan, and we are here to help you no matter what type or stage of cancer you are facing. Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers for men, and at Pasadena CyberKnife, we can treat prostate cancer using the state-of-the-art CyberKnife System.
Prostate Cancer and the CyberKnife System
CyberKnife is a state-of-the-art cancer treatment that provides a non-invasive, non-surgical approach to treating prostate cancer and a variety of other cancers. CyberKnife uses a method known as Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy, or SBRT to treat prostate cancer. This involves delivering a high dosage of radiation in the form of light waves to the cancer site, preventing the cancerous cells from multiplying.
Thanks to its use of advanced medical technology, CyberKnife can deliver this radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy all while tracking the patient’s motion and correcting for any movement in real time, allowing it to provide a highly effective cancer treatment with minimal side effects or damage to surrounding tissues. Generally, a treatment session with CyberKnife lasts between 20 and 45 minutes, and most patients need four or five treatment sessions to get their recommended dose of radiation.
Advantages of CyberKnife for Prostate Cancer Treatment
Precise treatment that does minimal damage to the surrounding tissues and structures – which, considering the position of the prostate in the body, are important – is key in treating prostate cancer. Thankfully, CyberKnife is exceptionally well-suited to this. Thanks to its unique robotic arm and state-of-the-art imaging and motion-tracking capabilities, CyberKnife is able to deliver radiation with remarkable accuracy, minimizing the chances of damage to nearby tissues and structures.
Traditionally, treating prostate cancer through radiation therapy has proved difficult due to involuntary movement of the tumor inside the body. During the course of a treatment session, it’s common for the prostate to move as much as 5mm in less than 30 seconds due to factors like gas shifting in the bowels, the bladder filling, or movement by the patient. Even a tiny change in the tumor’s position can seriously impact the radiation delivery – but with CyberKnife, this isn’t a problem.
CyberKnife tracks the positioning of the prostate and the tumor in real time, automatically adjusting for any movements and correcting the treatment delivery. This means that we don’t have to stop treatment to readjust the arm, and we don’t require patients to wear uncomfortable braces or immobility devices. Before CyberKnife, prostate cancer treatment involved invasive surgery with long recovery times or broad-spectrum radiation treatment. Thanks to CyberKnife, however, we can deliver high-dose radiation to the tumor with pinpoint accuracy, all while preventing damage to surrounding tissues.
Advanced Robotics in the CyberKnife System
The key to CyberKnife’s efficacy is the unique design of its robotic arm. CyberKnife uses an image-guided linear accelerator mounted onto a powerful robotic arm, which allows it to deliver radiation from hundreds of different angles, providing nearly 360º coverage of the tumor. CyberKnife’s robotic arm isn’t fixed in a position and doesn’t have to remain stationary during treatment – instead, it moves freely during treatment, allowing CyberKnife to correct for motion and other discrepancies in real time. This lets CyberKnife avoid healthy tissue, conforming exactly to the shape of the tumor.
In a 2010 survey of 304 patients who had received treatment with CyberKnife, reviews were overwhelmingly positive. 93% of patients reported that CyberKnife didn’t interrupt their normal life routine, and 98% of patients said that they’d recommend CyberKnife to others. Overall, 99% of patients said that they would choose to be treated with CyberKnife again.
Contact Your Pasadena Cancer Treatment Center
No matter where you are in life, a cancer diagnosis is a difficult and scary event – but thanks to CyberKnife, there’s always hope. At Pasadena Cyberknife, we’ve helped countless patients throughout Pasadena and the East LA area overcome cancer and reclaim a healthy lifestyle, and we would be thrilled to do the same for you. If you’re interested in learning more about how CyberKnife can help you or someone you love win the battle against cancer, we encourage you to call us at 626.325.0777 with any questions or reach out to us at our contact page to schedule an appointment. We can’t wait to hear from you, and we look forward to helping you reclaim the healthy life you deserve!