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Read about patients whose lives have been changed
with treatment by CyberKnife...
Sue’s Story – A grandmother’s recurring tumors are treated while preserving the quality of her life...
A 68-year-old grandmother of three from Bethesda, Md., Sue describes herself as "kind of a jock." Her passion is golf, and she loves running around in the backyard with her 8-year-old twin granddaughters and 6-year-old grandson. But, in 2003, the discovery of a tumor in her abdomen – the result of metastasized ovarian cancer that she had been diagnosed with six years prior – threatened to drastically change the life she enjoyed.
In 1997, Sue was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After a hysterectomy and five months of chemotherapy she was declared cancer free. Sue considered herself fortunate. According to the American Cancer Society, the ovarian cancer five-year survival rate for women under 65 years of age is only 56 percent, and it declines to only 38 percent after 10 years. But in 2002 a Stage III orange-sized metastatic tumor was discovered in her abdomen and was found to be inoperable. "When someone tells you that you have a big, inoperable tumor, you think ‘that’s it,’" said Sue. "But the doctors told me the good news was that they thought I qualified for a new type of radiation treatment called the CyberKnife, which was being offered at Georgetown University Hospital. How lucky is that?"
In June 2003, after a couple of months recuperating from her unsuccessful surgery, Sue began treatment with the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System. Doctors recommended the CyberKnife System for its ability to treat inoperable tumors by using high doses of radiation with extreme precision that could avoid damaging Sue’s aorta, vena cava or other critical tissue in her abdomen.
For three consecutive days, Sue received CyberKnife treatments on an outpatient basis. Each treatment lasted about one hour, during which the CyberKnife System’s robotic arm moved around Sue and adjusted the radiation delivery to any movements Sue made while she lay comfortably on the treatment couch. Though she was tired for a few weeks afterwards, she said that the recovery was a "breeze." "Chemo just knocks you down," Sue added. "But the CyberKnife lets you have a life. I didn’t feel bad afterwards. No nausea, no losing my hair."
The best part for Sue was that she didn’t lose an entire golf season, like she would have if she was dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy. She was back on the golf course in a matter of weeks.
In 2004 further tumors were discovered and Sue continued her CyberKnife treatment. Since that time she has been treated for tumors in her lung, thorax and abdomen. She credits the CyberKnife System – as well as the support of her husband, family and friends – with allowing her to live her "usual, very nice life. I would have rather not gotten cancer, but I did," said Sue. "But you just have to deal with what you’re dealt. The most important thing is to be aggressive in getting treatment. I was blessed to have very good doctors and that there was a CyberKnife right here in Washington, D.C. "Cancer isn’t fun," Sue added, noting that she’s looking forward to attending her husband’s 50th Princeton University class reunion in 2009. "We need hope and treatments, and that’s what the CyberKnife gives us."
Scott’s Story –Successful CyberKnife treatment for early stage prostate cancer without complications or side effects.
"I was devastated," said Scott, who had just turned 61 when he learned he had prostate cancer. "I thought I was too healthy and too young. I thought I was invincible and that there was no way my biopsy would show cancer."
Scott, an orthopedic surgeon, had been retired for about six years and was enjoying fly fishing, golfing and traveling with his wife of 38 years. He had four young grandchildren who he expected to spend time with as they grew up. "As a doctor, I imagined the worst possible outcome," he said. "I was afraid it was one of the few types of prostate cancer that might spread quickly."
Scott began extensive research on prostate cancer and the various treatments. He spoke with a number of prostate cancer patients about their treatments and the problems they encountered. He conferred with several internists and with his youngest son, a cardiology resident in Boston, who spoke with his colleagues about their thoughts on the options available to his father.
Around the same time, one of Scott’s friends attended a prostate cancer seminar at Naples Community Hospital and brought Scott back information about the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System. "When I read the brochure, I was excited to talk more to my doctor about whether I was a candidate for the CyberKnife," Scott recalled. At his next appointment they discussed the entire list of potential treatments, including watchful waiting (which Scott calls "benign neglect"), cryotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery and several methods of radiation therapy, including the CyberKnife System. "I was looking for a treatment that offered me the best chance for a complete cure," Scott said. "But it was extremely important to me to avoid the complications – impotence, incontinence and bowel problems – that commonly result from prostate cancer treatment."
Scott and his doctor decided that the CyberKnife treatment was the best option to meet all of those criteria. "What convinced me to do it was the preciseness, how the CyberKnife stops and recalibrates in order to accurately treat the tumor," he said. "Once I made the decision to go with the CyberKnife, I felt a calm and relief that I wouldn’t have to go through all the complications."
On April 27, 2006 Scott had a CT scan and MRI so that his physicians could develop a treatment plan. Treatment with the CyberKnife System began on May 8 and lasted for five consecutive days. "Each session lasted about an hour, and throughout the treatment I was able to relax and listen to my own music in a pleasant room," Scott said. "And after the treatment with the CyberKnife was finished, I rested for no more than a day and then resumed my normal activities."
Scott said that though he was told to expect fatigue and some short-term urinary symptoms, he experienced none of these. The treatment didn’t slow Scott down. Just two days after the treatment ended, he was back out on the golf course, playing 18 holes with his friends. And a few months later he was fly fishing for salmon on Eagle Creek in Labrador on the Atlantic coast of Canada.
The results of CyberKnife treatment exceeded Scott’s expectations. At his last appointment with his physician, Scott’s Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) level was down to 0.7. "Not only did it cure my disease, there were no complications and minimal side effects," he said. "I feel very fortunate that I could avoid all the complications that are devastating to men." "If the patient is the right candidate," Scott added, "the decision to go with the CyberKnife is a no-brainer."
Suzanne’s Story – A young mother’s brain tumor is removed without the complications of surgery.
For 34-year-old Suzanne, nothing is more important than being the best mother possible to her young children. But a routine brain scan found something that threatened to hinder this mom’s ability to care for her children.
Several years before, doctors had discovered that Suzanne had a pineal cyst, a benign lesion in her brain that was causing no adverse symptoms. To ensure that the cyst did not grow or change, Suzanne had regular brain scans. However, as she was going in for an MRI, Suzanne had a feeling that something was wrong, even though she was not experiencing any specific problems. She was right – the scan showed a growth in her brain, but it wasn’t the pineal cyst.
Suzanne had an acoustic neuroma, a typically slow-growing benign tumor that can cause hearing loss, facial numbness and/or paralysis and effect ones balance. "I was happy to know that it wasn’t cancer," Suzanne said. "But when my doctor told me that the most common treatment was microsurgery, all I could think about was my kids – who were then three and one – and how their lives would be affected by my long recovery and the possibility that something could go permanently wrong."
As she began researching potential treatment options, she discovered that radiation was a possible alternative and that a new technology – the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System – was being used to treat brain tumors. I knew I wanted the best technology out there," she said. "When I came across CyberKnife one of the things I liked the most was that it’s noninvasive, it has amazing accuracy and it would be something that wouldn’t have an impact on my quality of life." By the time she began her CyberKnife treatments a month later, Suzanne knew exactly what to expect.
Suzanne had a CT scan and MRI to help doctors pinpoint the location of her tumor and plan her course of treatment. The next Monday she went in for the first treatment, which lasted one-and-a-half hours. She had two more treatments, lasting an hour each, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Though she was a little tired after each treatment, she was still able to go home each day and interact with her children as usual. "I didn’t feel a thing," Suzanne recalled. "You almost wonder if it’s really doing anything because it’s completely painless."
But, in fact, the CyberKnife treatment was doing its job. In September 2006, her nine-month check-up showed signs that the tumor was dying. And, thankfully, Suzanne said, she has had none of the complications that are common when patients undergo microsurgery. She didn’t lose her hearing, her balance remains the same and she has no facial paralysis. "The entire CyberKnife journey was very easy," Suzanne said. "My quality of life never changed, and for me, that was a big deal because I didn’t want my children’s lives to be different. There are others I know, who have had the same type of tumor and opted for microsurgery. But they have had completely different outcomes, and every day is hard for them. I feel almost guilty that the whole process has been so easy for me."
