Just thought I'd let you all know, this was big on our NBC news affiliate tonight. Seattle has Cyberknife!
Seattle's new CyberKnife cuts straight to the tumor
Pricey treatment can minimize the harm to healthy tissue
By BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTER
Kirkland resident LaDon Granstaff says he feels no pain when the Seattle CyberKnife Center's hulking robotic arm slowly moves around him, beaming high doses of radiation through his prostate.
"They play music. I've been listening to classical," said Granstaff, 62, before reclining on the treatment table.
Outside the treatment room -- known as the "vault" because of its concrete-reinforced walls -- radiation oncologist Robert Meier and technicians watch monitors to ensure the robotic arm only treats the right areas.
About 20 patients have been treated since the CyberKnife office opened in February at Swedish Medical Center in the Central District. And this $4 million robotic arm in the James Tower is the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.
Doctors say the 8-foot-tall, maneuverable arm -- and its hundreds of positions -- can provide large and precise doses of radiation to tumors.
By delivering radiation from various angles, as opposed to one blast, it can minimize harming healthy tissue around a tumor.
"It ushers in a new era in battling cancer," Meier said.
A CyberKnife robotic arm also can reduce the number of radiation treatments from as many as 40 over eight weeks to about five or fewer over one week.
Meier said it also provides accuracy within about a millimeter and can move with a patient's breathing -- which also protects healthy tissue in the body.
The CyberKnife wields the potential to help cancer patients in Washington, Alaska and even Canada, said Patric Wiesmann, co-founder of the Blackrock Management Group, a health care development company.
Seattle-based Blackrock, Swedish and the Sabey Corp. (the Seattle P-I's landlord) were instrumental in bringing the unit to the area. The next-closest CyberKnife units are at Stanford University and the University of California-San Francisco.
The Seattle CyberKnife Center cost about $5 million to $7 million, Wiesmann said.
"Our focus here was, 'We're going to bring something for the patient, and we're confident that this will create good,' " he said.
About two years ago, Wiesmann heard about the CyberKnife from area doctors. They said Seattle needed one, given its capabilities.
Developed at Stanford and manufactured by Accuray Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., the robotic arm can treat tumors in the brain and in other parts of the body.
Although there is similar and accurate radiation technology on the market, it does not offer the same flexibility, doctors say. For example, one technology called the Gamma Knife is meant for tumors in the brain.
Meier said the CyberKnife -- which in Seattle has a team of radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons -- can treat the lung, liver, spine and cancers in parts of the body that conventional radiation cannot reach.
"This type of technology enables the replacement of big, complex and open operations (and) rivals it with effectiveness," said John Adler, CyberKnife inventor and a Stanford professor of neurosurgery and radiation oncology.
Adler and other doctors said there are few, if any, side effects.
But doctors are aware that a patient who was treated in the stomach might suffer from nausea. Prostate cancer patients might have to urinate more.
Although the technology is eye-catching, treatments can be expensive, ranging from about $11,000 up to $30,000. Meier said the technology is so new in the Northwest that regional insurance companies are still deciding what types of tumors to cover.
David Larson, a UC-San Francisco doctor and a professor of radiation oncology, points out that Medicare, the federal health care program for the elderly, covers only five CyberKnife treatments for a given tumor.
"It's a technical tour de force. Time will tell if that will translate into improved cure rates," said Larson, who has worked with a CyberKnife.
Meier said Medicare covers treatment for tumors in the spine, brain, lung and liver.
Jason Rockhill, a University of Washington assistant professor of radiation oncology, agreed that the CyberKnife has advantages, such as being non-invasive.
But he said he feels more comfortable using the Gamma Knife for brain tumors because he is more familiar with that technology.
"A lot of it has to do with your confidence in each system," he said.
Attracting more patients remains a goal because it will help doctors gain more experience with a CyberKnife, Adler said. More experience, he said, contributes to greater competency and, hopefully, more patients and money.
Adler estimates 150 to 200 patients per year are needed at a CyberKnife center for doctors to be the most efficient and comfortable with the robotic arm.
Wiesmann said he is always keeping an eye out for new technology that might displace what a CyberKnife can accomplish.
For cancer patient Granstaff, the Seattle location and the CyberKnife technology were both attractive.
He had considered going to California, Oklahoma or Florida for the same treatment. "I said, 'Why travel like that?' " he said.
"It's important to have early detection. This is what technology was designed for," he added. "If you wait too long, I don't think the treatment would be as effective."
ON THE WEB
For more information, see
www.seattlecyberknife.com and
www.accuray.com.
