At Alaska CyberKnife Center, located inside the Providence Alaska Cancer Center, our board-certified radiation oncologists are able to provide effective radiotherapy treatments for prostate cancer. Using the latest technology, our caring and knowledgeable staff can attack cancerous cells in your prostate with precision that is incomparable. We will also work with your medical team and explain all of your treatment options so that you can choose the plan of treatment that best fits your wishes and desires.
HOW ARE PROSTATE TUMORS TREATED?
Like all cancers, there are a variety of treatment methods available to you. Doctors usually base the suggested treatments on a number of factors including:
- The stage of your prostate cancer
- Your most recent PSA level
- Your Age
- Your Overall health
- Your Life expectancy
- Your risk of having the cancer recur
- Your personal preferences
Once these factors have been assessed by your Alaska oncology team, they will recommend one or more treatment options that may include:
- Watchful waiting or active surveillance – to see if the tumor grows or PSA levels increase
- Surgery – removing the entire prostate gland plus some of the surrounding tissue, including the seminal vesicles.
- Radiation therapy – external beam such as CyberKnife or internal radiation like brachytherapy
- Cryotherapy- Cryosurgery where doctors use of very cold substances such as liquid nitrogen to freeze and remove cancerous cells in the prostate.
- Hormone therapy – to reduce the levels of testosterone and DHT that cause prostate cancer cells to grow.
- Chemotherapy – using a combination of drugs to kill or slow the growth of cancerous cells
- Bone-directed treatment – when the cancer has spread to the bones, this treatment can control growth and relieve pain
ALASKA PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT WITH CYBERKNIFE
CyberKnife is a type of external radiotherapy called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) that directs radiation in very high doses to the exact location of your tumor. Its flexible robotic arm can focus hundreds of laser-like beams of radiotherapy that can be adjusted in diameter and moved at almost any angle for the highest degree of precision. The ability to target only the prostate and not harm the surrounding nerve bundles and organs, such as the rectum and the bladder, is extremely important in maintaining the proper functioning of these vital organs and preventing erectile dysfunction.
One of the primary challenges of treating prostate tumors with radiation is that the prostate gland moves unpredictably throughout the course of treatment. The CyberKnife System continually tracks and automatically corrects for the movement of the prostate and the tumor in real time. This unique capability ensures that radiotherapy continually hits only the intended target without interruption. Four to five tiny slivers of gold (called fiducials) are inserted into your prostate to determine the exact location throughout treatments. These help guide the CyberKnife system as your tumor moves.
CyberKnife can be used as a primary treatment for most stages of prostate cancer, but is especially effective for early and intermediate risk stages. If you have a more advanced or high risk prostate cancer, your doctor may recommend combining a few CyberKnife treatments with external beam irradiation or other cancer treatments. Surgery is also a common prostate cancer treatment.
Our experienced radiation oncologists work closely with Urologists and/or patients directly to determine the best method of treatment for each patient. CyberKnife does not have the same surgical risks of erectile dysfunction, incontinence or recovery time. We suggest that patients explore their treatment options by calling our center directly to speak with one of cancer experts.
THE CYBERKNIFE TREATMENT PROCEDURE STEPS
At the Alaska CyberKnife Center at Providence Cancer Center, our team of radiation oncology specialists will work with the rest of your medical team to develop the best plan for your CyberKnife prostate cancer treatment. The basic treatment steps include:
- Imaging – Your clinicians will use a high-resolution CT scanner to determine the size, shape and location of your tumor. This imaging data is then digitally transferred to the CyberKnife System’s software, where treatment planning begins.
- Treatment planning – Your board-certified physician will use the CyberKnife software to generate your unique treatment plan, which prescribes the radiation dose directly to your tumor, protecting healthy surrounding tissues.
- Fiducial placement – Once the plan has been developed, you are ready to undergo treatment. The process of prostate cancer radiation treatment with the CyberKnife System begins by placing the fiducial markers into the prostate. These tiny golden seeds help the CyberKnife System locate your tumor and track its movements.
- Custom Cradle – Next, your treatment team creates your treatment cradle, which is made from soft material that conforms to your shape. You will lie in the treatment cradle during each treatment session at our comfortable Anchorage cancer treatment center. It will help you maintain your physical position from one treatment to the next and ensure your comfort during treatments.
- Treatment – During treatment, you’ll lie still and relax as the robotic arm of the CyberKnife System moves around your body delivering targeted beam of radiation to your prostate from every angle. Each treatment session will last between 20 and 45 minutes, once per day for up to 5 days.
- Resume Activity – After each session, you can go home and resume your normal routine. You may experience some minimal side effects, but those often go away within the first week or two after treatment.
CYBERKNIFE BENEFITS FOR PROSTATE CANCER
CyberKnife is clinically proven as a successful prostate cancer treatment in Anchorage. The most recent clinical studies that have followed more than a thousand patients for up to eight years show that CyberKnife is very effective in treating early and intermediate risk stages of prostate cancer. The ability to precisely target the moving prostate is its primary benefit. Here are additional benefits of using Alaska CyberKnife Center for your prostate cancer treatment:
- Pain-Free: Your CyberKnife treatment requires no surgery, no anesthesia, no cutting, and often no pain.
- Comfortable: Your treatment is delivered in our comfortable outpatient Anchorage cancer center, not a hospital. You will lie on a comfortable treatment couch with no compression devices to immobilize you since CyberKnife will track your every movement.
- Convenient. Compared to conventional radiation therapy which is 45 treatments, over nine weeks, the CyberKnife is one treatment per day just four or five days.
- Surgical Precision Without Surgery: Using extreme maneuverability, the CyberKnife system targets your exact prostate location using its linear accelerator mounted to a robotic arm to deliver radiation from an infinite number of different angles. Additionally, using sophisticated software and imaging, it directs the radiation beam, tracking each and every patient and tumor movement throughout treatment correcting and adjusting to remain on target of the tumor.
- Save Healthy Organs: Conventional radiation treatment has been and still is a useful treatment for prostate cancer. But the treatment itself, does not have the same accuracy as CyberKnife. As the prostate moves uncontrollably throughout treatment, conventional radiation therapy must treat a larger margin around the prostate to ensure radiation to the prostate itself, but it also does impact surrounding tissues and organs. This leads to the chance of increased side effects such as incontinence or erectile dysfunction.
- Popular Alternative To Surgery: CyberKnife has rapidly become the primary treatment for prostate cancer, whether patients are operable or inoperable, CyberKnife is a very popular non-surgical treatment option. With CyberKnife there are no surgical risks, less chance of erectile dysfunction, impotence, incontinence and no painful recovery.
- Re-treatment Possibilities: Alaska CyberKnife Center is also a treatment option for patients who may have already undergone some other type of radiation treatment or patients who have recurring cancer.
CALL TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CYBERKNIFE IN ANCHORAGE
At Alaska CyberKnife Center, we understand that there are a variety of treatments for prostate cancer. We believe CyberKnife provides the best hope in combating prostate cancer. Call our Anchorage radiation oncology experts today at (907) 312-2112 and set up your first consultation.
Or, complete our online appointment form. We have years of experience in treating prostate cancer and are ready to review all the treatment options and see what best meets your goals by balancing cure and quality of life. Together, we can develop an individualized treatment plan that is best for you.
Find out more about prostate cancer:
- Prostate Cancer – About Prostate Cancer
- Prostate Cancer – Types & Stages