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The CyberKnife Team at Southeast Georgia Health System
Cancer treatment can involve a number of approaches, depending on the type, stage and size of the cancer. One option is CyberKnife® robotic radiation, an innovative treatment for prostate, lung, breast, brain, pancreatic and liver cancers. Kenyon Meadows, MD, board-certified radiation oncologist at the Southeast Georgia Health System Cancer Care Centers, explains what CyberKnife entails, as well as patient outcomes.
How Does CyberKnife Work?
CyberKnife is a robotic radiation delivery system designed for precise treatment of small tumors. Unlike traditional radiation therapy, which treats larger areas over several weeks, CyberKnife targets small areas with higher radiation doses in a shorter timeframe.
“When you treat large-volume areas, you do it slowly over multiple weeks in order to do it safely. When the tumor is small enough, you can deliver much higher doses of radiation. CyberKnife is a radiation platform that's tailor-made for that type of delivery,” states Dr. Meadows.
CyberKnife and Breast Cancer
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Lana Wright
One specific cancer that benefits from CyberKnife radiation is breast cancer, which is the type of cancer Lana Wright was diagnosed with. Fortunately, her tumor was small enough to be eligible for CyberKnife. “I asked Dr. Meadows, ‘Should I be concerned?’ and his actual words were, ‘We like to find them the size of a pea instead of a golf ball.’ So, that settled my nerves a bit. My diagnosis was much better than some friends I’ve had, so I feel blessed,” Lana shares.
According to Dr. Meadows, Lana’s diagnosis was typical, where tumors are detected through screening and are generally less than two centimeters in size. It’s important to take action when the cancer is contained, before it spreads to the lymph nodes—at which point CyberKnife would not be useful.
Dr. Meadows also explains the evolution of radiation treatment, transitioning from treating the entire breast with radiation to a more focused area. “Many years ago, we started investigating on treating just a part of the breast, as opposed to the whole breast, which we used to do for everyone regardless of the size of their cancer or lymph node status,” he notes. “About a decade ago, the studies finally matured that revealed we could treat the part of the breast that's just around the area where the surgery occurred, and that seems to work very well. So, that was just a natural application of something like CyberKnife.”
Cancer Care at Its Best
Lana was thoroughly impressed with the CyberKnife process and appreciated the warmth of the staff. “For us folks that get diagnosed with the C word, you have all kinds of bad things running through your mind,” Lana shares. “I can tell you that the Cancer Care Center team at Southeast Georgia Health System were warm and comforting and made me feel relaxed when I walked in the door.”
While Dr. Meadows warned Lana that she may experience some fatigue as a side effect, she was lucky to avoid that and was able to keep working while undergoing treatment. CyberKnife also lessens the common skin reaction of conventional radiation.
From both Dr. Meadows’ and Lana’s perspectives, CyberKnife is the way to go if a person is a good candidate.
Southeast Georgia Health System is one of the few locations in Georgia to offer CyberKnife. To learn more about CyberKnife, visit sghs.org/cyberknife.
