CyberKnife® for Brain Tumors

"CyberKnife was a sight-saving procedure for me," says Lisa Merck. Lisa chose CyberKnife to treat her secondary brain cancer after most of the tumor was removed with traditional surgery. Since the tumor was located near the optic nerves that control vision, CyberKnife was able to treat the lesion with one treatment and preserve her sight.

"For patients with a few, small metastases to the brain, the Cyberknife is an ideal treatment," says Joana Emmolo, MD, a radiation oncologist at the Gerald J. Glasser Brain Tumor Center. "Often, only one treatment is needed for each focus, and all of the surrounding normal, healthy brain tissue is spared. This allows for minimal risk and maximum benefit," adds Dr. Emmolo.

In 2004, Overlook Medical Center became the first hospital in the northeast - and one of the first in the world - to use the CyberKnife^®, a revolutionary radiosurgery device used to treat cancerous and non-cancerous tumors and malformations in the brain and other parts of the body. It is often used for what are considered inoperable tumors.

Overlook Medical Center radiation oncologists boast unmatched experience using CyberKnife. They have treated the most brain tumor patients - more than 1,000 - and have the largest CyberKnife program in the tri-state area for the treatment of brain tumors.

CyberKnife combines image guidance and robotics to deliver high doses of radiation with pinpoint accuracy. Image-guided cameras locate the exact position and shape of the tumor so that multiple focused beams of radiation can be directed at the tumor target from multiple angles. The pinpoint accuracy of radiation beams delivered to the exact shape of the tumor allows the healthy surrounding tissue to remain untouched.

"Brain tumors are different from tumors elsewhere in the body," says Louis Schwartz, MD chief of radiation oncology at Overlook Medical Center and co-director of the CyberKnife Center. "When a surgeon removes a tumor in the breast, for example, he or she also removes some healthy tissue outside of the tumor in hopes of getting a clean margin. But with brain tumors, the neurosurgeon wants to remove only the affected tissue because every bit of brain is so important."

Following traditional surgery, CyberKnife radiosurgery (a form of radiation delivery) is then used to treat the cavity that is left behind after the tumor is removed. This way, any microscopic tumor left behind is radiated and decreases the likelihood of the tumor growing back.

CyberKnife can also be used for inoperable tumors, those that have come back, and for cancers that originated in other parts of the body, such as the lung or bowel, and have moved to the brain. Those are called secondary brain cancer, or metastasis.

Given the precision of Cyberknife treatment delivery, treatments can be repeated to other parts of the brain in the future, should the need arise.

To learn more about Lisa’s story, click here.