CyberKnife, a revolutionary advancement in non-invasive cancer treatment, is bringing new hope to patients at St. John Medical Center. St. John recently acquired the highly specialized $3.5 million robotic radiosurgery system which targets and treats tumors once considered inoperable or untreatable, including malignant and benign tumors of the brain, spine, lungs, pancreas, prostate and liver.

CyberKnife utilizes a computer-controlled robotic arm to aim highly concentrated beams of radiation to destroy cancerous and certain non-cancerous cells with pinpoint accuracy within the body. The precise, pencil-thin beams of radiation kill tumor cells while minimizing injury to surrounding healthy tissue. In addition to serving as a cancer treatment option, the CyberKnife also gives patients options for non-surgical treatment of spine and brain issues, as well as diseases of the chest and abdomen.

"With CyberKnife's precision, we can treat tumors previously considered inoperable, including tumors of the brain and spine. St. John is proud to bring this revolutionary technology to Green Country and to offer new hope to many cancer patients, said Frederick Willison, M.D., St. John radiation oncologist.

The revolutionary CyberKnife technology provides a number of benefits over more conventional therapies such as traditional radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery. CyberKnife offers many unique benefits for cancer patients and those with other conditions, including benign tumors, vascular malformations and trigeminal neuralgia (cranial nerve pain).

• Non-surgical: Often, there are no incisions. CyberKnife uses the skeletal structure of the body as a reference to track and treat tumors frequently eliminating the use of needles to place the markers used with traditional radiosurgery systems.
• Outpatient: Hospitalization is unnecessary.
• Painless: CyberKnife is a non-surgical procedure. Because robotic radiosurgery is non-invasive, treatments can be delivered without discomfort and without the risks associated with open surgery.
• Convenient: Fewer treatments are required as compared with traditional radiosurgery. Patients require only one to five treatment sessions. Treatments last approximately 60-90 minutes.
• No recovery time: Following treatment, a patient can resume normal activity including work.
• Frameless: Metal head frames attached with screws are not required with CyberKnife treatment as compared with traditional radiosurgery of the brain.
• Accurate: CyberKnife continuously tracks the tumor and adjusts treatment beams due to patient movement. It delivers radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
• Revolutionary: An option for some inoperable or surgically complex tumors.

St. John Medical Center began offering CyberKnife treatment services October 15 and is the only hospital in the city to offer this cutting-edge technology.

CyberKnife was developed by a team of physicists and engineers at Stanford University and was the first radiosurgery delivery system approved for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2001 for tumors anywhere in the body. CyberKnife is manufactured by Accuray.

For more information, call the St. John PulseLine, (918) 744-0123.