Wellstar Kennestone in GA - cyberknife

[goinbatty]

I received the brochure from Wellstar Kennestone today.  Thought you all would be interested in this -
How does the accuracy of the CyberKnife System compare to other radiosurgery systems, such as the Gamma Knife? - The CyberKnife System is the most accurate robotic radiosurgery system in the world with a mechanical accuracy of 0.2 millimeters and sub-millimeter clinical accuracy.  Gamma Knife, by comparison, has a mechanical accuracy of just under 0.3 millimeters and clinical accuracy just above 0.1 millimeter.

contact info - cyberknife@wellstar.org
CyberKnife Patient Navigator (770) 793-7550

[Mark]

I would agree with the statement that CK has a greater mechanical accuracy than GK, although fairly minimal, but I'm not sure of the relevance of that claim in the eyes of most patients. The issue of total error which includes frame error in the case of GK as well as scan error of the CT brings CT to a cumulative error of .89 mm for CK according to a clinical study done at Stanford a couple of years ago whereas GK comes in somewhere between 1-1.5 mm . A lot of things in life are "spin" and while the comment by Wellstar is undoubtedly correct, I think most folks are more interested in the total error the machine will have in their treatment

Mark

[goinbatty]

Thanks for the info about Stanford.  I'm just now starting to look into radiation.  Do you know anything about the cyberknife center in Jacksonville, FL? 

[Mark]

My personal view re: new CK sites is that it is more important to evaluate the team's overall experience with radiosurgery. If they have used GK or other machines for a number of years then they should be very capable and grounded in practicing radiosurgery. CK is a relatively new technolgy and is gaining an increasing acceptance as medical center capital budgets allow them to replace older technology with CK which is an upgrade on the GK for cranial tumors, but more significantly gives doctors tha ability to treat tumors throughout the body with radiosurgery. All new CK facilities go through extensive training at Accuray and at selected long term facilities such as Stanford. If the treatment team is new to radiosurgery for AN's in general, then I would be concerned, however, if they have extensive experience with other machines, then I would be less concerned with how long they have had a CK

Mark

[Sheryl]

If you are checking out facilities in Florida, you may want to check the Cyberknife facility at Palm Beach.  As Bruce mentioned the Cyberknife patient support group has doctors that will read and answer posts.  One of them is Dr. Spunberg from the Palm Beach facility who has helped out quite a bit on the board.  My husband and I checked out the Naples, Florida Cyberknife as we both have benign brain tumors (we've been married so long, we do things together!!). His is a meningioma regrowth but surgery and then radiation is the best route for him.  Mine is like an acoustic neuroma but is on the 9th cranial nerve rather than the 8th and would best be treated with Cyberknife.  Since I am a "wait and watch" patient, I would elect that treatment if and when the need arises. 
Good luck - keep us posted,
Sheryl

[goinbatty]

That's for the input.  I'll keep that in mind.  My next MRI is scheduled for 8/07.  I'll be very curious to see what it shows.