Printer-Friendly Version Press Release CyberKnife® Attracts Attention of Cancer Patients Across the Country The CyberKnife Center at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago has attracted the attention of cancer patients from across the country who have inquired about this revolutionary new treatment to destroy tumors that previously could not be surgically removed or otherwise treated effectively. Patients from as far away as California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Michigan have sought out information since the announcement last month that this promising new technology had been acquired. When the CyberKnife Center begins treating its first patient next week, it will become only the 26th site in the U.S., the first in Indiana and the exclusive provider in the Chicagoland region. The CyberKnife Center is a cooperative effort between area physicians and the Indiana hospitals of the Community Healthcare System: Community Hospital in Munster; St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago; and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. At $3.2 million, the CyberKnife represents the largest investment in a single piece of technology acquired by the Community Healthcare System. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, East Chicago Mayor George Pabey, Indiana Congressman Pete Visclosky and Bishop Dale J. Melczek of the Diocese of Gary are to be among the honored guests to attend public ceremonies and a blessing of the new Center prior to its opening next week. Other public officials and medical professionals will also tour the new center and view a demonstration of the technology that combines the power of robotics with the same precision guidance system developed to lead cruise missiles to their target. "It is through an extraordinary effort between our hospitals and physicians that we are able to bring to our community a promising new cancer therapy that will save lives and dramatically reduce the length, cost and risk of treatment," said Donald S. Powers, president, chairman and chief executive officer of Community Healthcare System. "It is a real credit to our community, our patients and our medical professionals that we're the first hospital in the state and the entire Chicagoland area to offer this promising new treatment." The unique precision guidance capabilities of CyberKnife enable physicians to safely deliver high doses of radiation to tumors and lesions deep within the body without damaging healthy tissue and organs. CyberKnife will be used initially to treat certain cancers of the brain, spine, pancreas, liver and lung, as well as other malformations and benign tumors. As the technology evolves and proves to offer other advantages over existing treatment, its use is likely to expand, said Andrej Zajac, M.D., Medical Director of the CyberKnife Center. "CyberKnife is generating a lot of excitement not just in this community, but throughout the world because of the possibilities it affords a group of patients who have been told 'there is nothing that can be done,'" Zajac said. "With CyberKnife, we can for the first time offer an effective treatment option for some of the most difficult-to-control cancers and for tumors impossible to surgically remove." During the CyberKnife procedure, more than 100 beams of radiation enter the body from different angles. By itself, each small beam of radiation does not harm the healthy tissue or organs it passes through. It is when the beams intersect that a sufficient dose is delivered to destroy the tumor. Patients are typically treated between one to five sessions, each lasting about up to 90 minutes. Not only does the CyberKnife reach tumors that are unreachable with other stereotactic systems, patients do not need invasive restraints fixed to their skulls or bodies during treatment as is required with other systems such as the GammaKnife®. CyberKnife's advanced image-guided stereotactic robotic system delivers radiation so precisely that it can stay on target even if a patient moves during treatment. The other clear distinction between CyberKnife and GammaKnife is that CyberKnife can be used to treat tumors throughout the body. "What is particularly exciting and unique about this technology is its accuracy - it can actually track a person's respiration, moving up and down with each breath the patient takes," Zajac said. "This precision allows us to go where a surgeon would not even venture and where other radiosurgery and conventional radiation systems would not be able to deliver a useful dose without risk to healthy tissue and organs. With the CyberKnife, we can deliver a dose that is effective and offers real hope to patients who previously had few, if any, treatment options. " With its attached linear accelerator, CyberKnife's robotic arm delivers radiation to a specific target, guided by a computerized 3-D map created through the use of CT or MRI scans. In stereotactic radiosurgery systems like the GammaKnife, the patients' skulls are fixed with metal frames that provide reference points for the delivery of radiation. Patients are required to wear this uncomfortable frame throughout the GammaKnife treatment that may span multiple sessions. CyberKnife is the only radiosurgery system able to use the body's skeletal structure as a reference point. For tumors in the spine and within the body without good skeletal reference, special implanted markers are used for reference and placed near the tumor prior to treatment with the CyberKnife. Placement of these tiny markers is done as a minor outpatient procedure using local anesthetic. "The addition of the CyberKnife to the Community Healthcare System will put our hospitals on the forefront of stereotactic radiosurgery, offering patients a superior treatment alternative," said John Gorski, senior vice president of hospital operations for the Community Healthcare System. "As one of the first sites to use CyberKnife, our local community can take pride in knowing our physicians will be collaborating with other researchers and scientists around the world to further advance this technology. The work we're doing here further demonstrates our commitment to ensure that the advances being made in cancer care today are available in our community." With the addition of the CyberKnife, the hospitals of the Community Healthcare System offer some of the most comprehensive and advanced radiation therapy treatment options within Chicagoland and Indiana. Traditional radiation therapy, which features the advances of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) to focus higher radiation doses at the tumor, is available through Community Hospital in Munster and at the Center for Imaging and Radiation Therapy of St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. The hospitals are supported by the area's larger cancer research program sponsored by the Community Hospital Cancer Research Foundation. The non-profit Foundation also operates the Cancer Resource Centre in Munster providing support, mind-body programs, education and other services at no cost to cancer patients and their families. "As a system, we are very committed to advancing the quality of medical care in our community," said Jo Ann Birdzell, administrator of St. Catherine Hospital. "The investment in CyberKnife builds on the strength of the oncology program and the medical professionals of the Community Healthcare System." Developed and manufactured by Accuray, the CyberKnife's unique precision technology was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003 for use on tumors anywhere in the body where radiation is indicated. Stereotactic radiosurgery has been in use for more than 30 years to treat benign and malignant tumors, vascular malformations and other disorders. More than 10,000 patients have been treated worldwide with CyberKnife. For more information on CyberKnife and the radiation oncology services of Community Healthcare System, please call toll-free 1-877-32CYBER, or at Community Hospital, 219-836-6390 and at St. Mary Medical Center, 219-942-5745. Information can also be found at: www.comhs.org. The Community Healthcare System is the largest healthcare provider in Northwest Indiana operated by Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. What Does CyberKnife Treat? Cancers involving the brain Lung cancers Pancreatic cancers Metastatic liver cancers Cancers involving the spine Benign brain tumors, such as acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas, hemangioblastomas, schwannomas Malformations of blood vessels within the brain, such as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) Trigeminal neuralgia Metastatic orbital tumors, orbital lymphomas and orbital inflammations (tumors or inflammations around the eye) The Benefits of CyberKnife The CyberKnife system offers an entirely new approach to stereotactic radiosurgery, one that does not require fixing a frame to the body and offers superior precision to minimize the effect on healthy tissue. More than 10,000 people worldwide have been treated with CyberKnife, a noninvasive alternative for patients who are not ideally suited for or unable to undergo traditional surgery. The benefits include: Non-invasive treatment No anesthesia No Pain No incision No blood Immediate return to normal activity No metal head frame or skull pins for improved patient comfort No hospitalization Minimizes radiation exposure to currently healthy tissue and organs Continually compensates for any movement during treatment to ensure accuracy Lesions that previously received the maximum allowed dose of radiation can be treated