Met with Radiology Oncologist for 1st time

[kends2020]

Met yesterday with Radio/Oncologist yesterday.  Confirmed 2cm tumor.  Good news only symptom so far is some ringing and a bit of hearing loss. He confirmed recommedation that CyberKnife was the best option.  He said the goal is to preserve hearing and the cyberknife with stop the growth.  Said data shows 90-95% success rate of stopping growth and no further damage.

Any opinions?

Ken

[v357139]

Ken,
90-95% success rate sounds about right.  There have been claims about cyberknife being better for hearing preservation, but I am not sure how well documented this is yet.  You should also know about all the options.  Surgery is also a good option.  And in some cases Wait and Watch is a good option.  I would first educate myself on the pros and cons of the options.  It is not a bad idea to get several opinions as well.  This is not to push you away from radiosurgery by any means, it is an excellent option.  Only to  have you be fully aware of all the options available to you.

Very important - how many has the prospective doctor done?  On this site, ANA recommends going with doctors who have extensive experience in AN treatment.
Rich

PS: Feel free to PM me if you want.

[DebraMIH]

Hi,
My situation was complicated because I have complete sensory hearing loss on the right and a growing vestibular schwannoma on my left.  It was definitely growing and I was beginning to get symptoms of vertigo. The risk of watching/observing and becoming deaf on the left ear was concerning.   I decided to get cyberknife radiation.  The immediate risks are lower in terms of hearing loss at least in the short term.   The doctor from NY, Douglas Kondziolka has experience and the team seemed to recognize the additional issue of my current one sided hearing loss.  Procedure was relatively easy, but will see in a few more months if it worked and shrunk the tumor and then if over the next 5 years there my hearing stayed intack! will keep you posted.   

[larue210]

My doctors at Mayo indicated to me that Gamma Knife radiation, while very successful in stopping growth causes complete hearing loss in 50% of patients in 5 years and 75% of patients in 10 years.  Interesting that your doctors indicated hearing could be preserved.  Was that a short-term indication.  Since your tumor is medium in size, did you receive any feedback on whether tumor could be completely removed via surgery.   

[v357139]

Hi there just fyi.  Hearing preservation with Gamma Knife and Cyberknife are not exactly the same.