Radiation is a powerful tool in the arsenal to treat cancer, and it can be used in many ways – depending on the type of cancer, the stage of the disease and the health of the patient — making it a true workhorse in the fight against cancer, according to the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami – the premiere radiation treatment center for cancer in South Florida.
“Radiation works by making small breaks in the DNA inside cells. These breaks keep cancer cells from growing and dividing and cause them to die. Nearby normal cells can also be affected by radiation, but most recover and go back to working the way they should,” says the American Cancer Society.
In fact, more than half of patients with cancer will get some sort of radiation during their treatment, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
But which cancer center you choose to partner with during your cancer journey can make a big difference in your treatment outcome and how you’re treated before, during, and after treatment by the team you’re working with.
Experience counts but so does compassion. CyberKnife Miami is among the most experienced teams worldwide, and just as important, we put your needs above ours. In other words, we put patients first. Much needs to be done when you’re diagnosed with cancer. Our team knows that, and we help you get through it much easier. We literally team up with you and your family to deal with all aspects of your treatment. From getting the scans you need, to seeing specialists and even helping determine what your insurance covers. It’s a lot, but we know what to do and how to help. That is our promise to you.
We are a stand-alone cancer center, so you don’t have to fight your way through a medical maze at large medical facilities, or phones not being answered and calls not being returned.
All we do at CyberKnife Miami is radiation – from treating the earliest stages of cancer to the toughest cases other centers won’t touch. We can do that because of our team’s vast experience treating cancer with CyberKnife and all types of radiation therapy.
Keep in mind, radiation is used in several different ways, and we’ve seen it all.
- Primary Treatment: Radiation can be the first and only treatment to kill the cancer and prevent it from returning or spreading.
- Before Other Treatments: Doctors say radiation can be administered before other treatments – like surgery – to shrink a tumor before to make it more operable.
- After Other Treatments: Doctors can use radiation after another treatment to make sure all the cancer cells are gone.
- Symptom Relief: Radiation can be used in a palliative way to relieve symptoms and pain often associated with cancer.
- Recurrent Cancer: Radiation can be effective if cancer returns after an initial treatment.
- Metastatic Cancer: Radiation therapy can also help in cases where cancer has spread.
External beam radiation – or radiation delivered outside the body – is the most common type of radiation. Yet not all types of external beam radiation are the same.
The CyberKnife Advantage
CyberKnife, a form of external beam stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), is among the most precise forms of radiation on the market today. It delivers high-dose radiation directly to the tumor, from hundreds of different angles, while at the same time leaving healthy tissue unharmed. Because of the higher doses being delivered through CyberKnife’s robotic arm, patients require many fewer treatments than with traditional radiation, and side effects can be minimized.
“CyberKnife is the most refined way to target a tumor and minimize the dose to normal tissue,” says Dr. Mark Pomper, medical director of CyberKnife Miami and board-certified radiation oncologist. “It is often a very good alternative to surgery and our results can be at least as good.”
In fact, if your doctor recommends surgery for your cancer – especially for brain, lung, spinal, liver, prostate or pancreatic cancers – you may want to get a second opinion from one of our cancer experts.
CyberKnife is also an excellent choice for certain metastatic cancers, palliative treatments, or recurrent cancers.
“The CyberKnife advantage is that even if an area has been treated with radiation before, we can treat the same area again because the technology is so precise. We treat a lot of lymph nodes at CyberKnife. And we treat them very successfully,” Dr. Pomper says. “Some doctors mistakenly tell patients the area can’t be treated if it’s been treated before with other types of radiation. That’s not always true. Those patients should get a second opinion at the CyberKnife Center of Miami.”
CyberKnife: Robotic Precision for Individualized Treatment
CyberKnife tracks a tumor in real time, and that’s a true advantage.
“Before delivering the radiation beam, the CyberKnife System is the only device that verifies the exact tumor position then adjusts the robot to precisely target the tumor. This helps to ensure radiation is delivered to where the tumor is, not to where it was moments before,” according to Accuray, the maker of CyberKnife.
This also minimizes the amount of healthy tissue exposed to radiation.
CyberKnife Miami
But again, great treatment is only half the battle when fighting cancer. Give us a call at CyberKnife Miami and you will see an immediate difference in how you are treated and handled. We take care of our patients and their families. We want you to feel comfortable and confident in your decisions. You will meet and get to know each member of our team personally.
We partner with our patients through their medical journey. We understand patients have choices, and that sometimes there are different treatments options for the same problem. If CyberKnife is not a good fit for you, we will tell you upfront. We guide our patients and provide second opinions when needed.
At the CyberKnife Center of Miami, our goal is to get you back to your life – cancer free as soon as possible, without affecting the quality of your life.
Call us if you would like to find out more about treatment with CyberKnife at 305-279-2900 or go to our website now for more information on how CyberKnife works. www.cyberknifemiami.com.