KIDNEY CANCER

Alaska CyberKnife Center offers a powerful choice for early-stage kidney tumors. While surgery, ablation, and drug therapy are common kidney cancer treatments, the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is a clinically proven effective addition to the current treatment options. In the past, traditional radiation treatment for kidney cancer was difficult due to the movement of the tumor position as the patient inhaled and exhaled. This could leave the cancerous cells with insufficient amounts of radiation, while damaging the healthy tissue around the kidney.

Also a challenge for kidney cancer treatment is the kidney’s resistance to the low dose radiation of traditional treatments, rendering them ineffective. The CyberKnife system solves both challenges by synchronizing with the rhythm of your kidney as you breathe while sending very high doses of effective radiation directly only to the cancerous cells. With radiation minimized to the healthy tissue, there are less chances for negative side effects. In fact, CyberKnife patients may experience no side effects at all.

More than 62,000 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer every year. It is one of the 10 most common cancers in both men and women. The risk of getting kidney cancer is about 1 in 63. The disease affects mostly older people with the average age at diagnosis being 64. Survival rates for early stage kidney cancer are from 74 to 81 percent.

To successfully eradicate cancerous cells, it is necessary to get a high enough dose of radiation to the target without damaging healthy tissue, and CyberKnife does just that. It continues to prove its effectiveness in treating kidney cancer contained in the kidney or that has metastasized to other parts of the body. In a 2015 study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 82 percent of patients tested were able to decrease the size of their kidney tumor by tolerating increased dosages of radiation through CyberKnife without serious side-effects. 94% CyberKnife has also proven to be a major breakthrough in treating recurrent kidney cancer, even when radiation was delivered before. Other benefits of the CyberKnife treatment for kidney cancer include:

• Precise Reach: As detailed above, radiation treatment is beamed directly to the exact location of your tumor from many angles.

• Tumor Tracking: Sophisticated CyberKnife software follows and tracks your tumor as you breathe by taking continuous pictures and adjusting the robotic arm as needed.

• Faster & Fewer Treatments: CyberKnife treatments are completed in one short session for one to five days.

• Non-Invasive: Avoid surgery and the extended recovery time that can come with it.

• Comfortable Outpatient Treatments: Treatment is completed on a comfortable treatment couch in our Anchorage cancer center with no anesthesia or hospital stay.

Find out how CyberKnife radiosurgery treatment can give you the best hope for your kidney cancer treatment. Contact our highly-trained radiation oncologists today at our Anchorage cancer center located inside Providence Cancer Center and ask them your questions right now. Or, use our convenient online email form and schedule your first appointment today. Our staff will welcome you and discuss your individual case and cancer treatment options that would be best for you. You owe it to yourself to research all your options, and CyberKnife could be the best treatment for you.