Doctors recently performed noninvasive CyberKnife radiosurgery on 78-year-old Joseph, a cancer survivor suffering from Parkinson’s disease, with encouraging results.
Joseph says he experienced tremendous relief from his tremors, bringing new hope to all Parkinson’s patients suffering from the same problem.
CyberKnife, primarily used to treat cancer, is an advanced form of non-invasive radiosurgery that delivers high doses of targeted radiation precisely to a tumor site.
When treating Parkinson’s, the doctors directed the radiation beams to ablate the specific area in Joseph’s brain causing the tremors.
Joseph who has been battling Parkinson’s disease since 2019, was also diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021.
He was also treated with CyberKnife for his cancer at the HCG Cancer Centre, in Bangalore.
During a recent follow-up visit, doctors observed his tremors had worsened, particularly affecting his head and the left side of his body.
This deterioration significantly impacted his daily activities, making it difficult for him to hold a glass of water or to walk.
Despite being on medication (a combination of the drugs levodopa and carbidopa to relieve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease such as tremors, muscle stiffness, and difficulty moving) his quality of life was severely affected.
To try and reduce the tremors, the doctors suggested CyberKnife.
The non-invasive treatment is done as an out-patient procedure, and requires no admission or anesthesia.
The CyberKnife Procedure: How Is It Done?
The team of doctors use cameras that capture images which locate, and guide them to locate the particular lesion in the brain causing tremors. Using a robotic arm, radiation is then delivered to the targeted location with sub-millimeter accuracy.
Dr. Lohith Reddy, lead radiation oncologist for functional radiosurgery at HCG, who treated Joseph, said with conventional treatments, the response time would take up to six months. However, with CyberKnife there was a response within 48 hours, proving that it was hugely impactful. “The CyberKnife treatment for Jospeh’s Parkinson’s was done on January 22. The procedure took about 15 minutes. On January 24th, the family was informed of his tremendous improvement,” said Dr Reddy.
He adds that using CyberKnife in select Parkinson’s cases can bring about a paradigm shift in treatment, improving quality of life.
It was the first time the hospital used CyberKnife radiation therapy successfully for a Parkinson patient.
Joe’s son, Cherian says there has been at least a 75% improvement in his condition, and he is able to perform his daily activities with minimal tremors. “This was a tremendous intervention. Since he had already undergone CyberKnife for cancer treatment earlier, we were confident about the procedure when the doctors suggested CyberKnife for Parkinson’s tremors. To our pleasant surprise, the tremors had reduced after 48 hours,” said Cherian. Despite his health issues, Joe has continued to work, his son added.
CyberKnife For Parkinson’s Is Not For All: Dr. Varun Manjunath, a neurologist at HCG, who had evaluated Joe says CyberKnife is not the primary line of care for Parkinson’s.
“Considering the man’s age and history of cancer, deep brain stimulation (DBS), the standard treatment for Parkinson’s, could not have been done on this gentleman. Hence, CyberKnife was performed, which is recommended only for selected patients with multiple co-morbidities,” he said. Dr Manjunath reiterated that DBS remains the standard of care in tremor-predominant Parkinson’s disease, which does respond well to adequate Parkinson’s medication.
Story By: Sunitha Rao R