Sinai Hospital: A CyberKnife® Leader
Health News

Sinai Hospital: A CyberKnife® Leader


Since opening the CyberKnife® Center at the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute in 2003, Sinai Hospital has become recognized as a national leader in the treatment of pancreas, lung, spine, liver, brain and prostate tumors. More than 1,200 CyberKnife procedures have been performed at Sinai, where physicians from all over the country are trained in how to use the cancer treatment technology.

Sinai Hospital?s CyberKnife Center ranks in the top 10 worldwide in total volume of patients treated for pancreas, lung and other soft tissue tumors. To support the center?s continued growth and to pioneer new therapies, Sinai Hospital acquired a second CyberKnife. Only four other centers in the world have this capacity.

CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery is a frameless, linear accelerator-based system mounted on a robotic arm. Because there are no surgical incisions, anesthesia is not required.

The CyberKnife?s computer-guided tracking system is so precise that doctors use it to treat inoperable tumors and cancers that have failed to respond to other types of radiation, including radiotherapy. This is especially advantageous near the spinal cord or other vital organs. Additionally, new tracking systems for the CyberKnife allow it to recognize the shape of a patient?s spine and thus increase the degree of precision. Sinai has the largest reported experience with malignant tumors of the spine. Patients from across the country with complex spinal tumors are referred here for treatment.

Over the last six years, physicians have demonstrated CyberKnife?s ability to perform revolutionary, noninvasive procedures to eradicate soft tissue tumors in the pancreas, liver and lungs. Mukund S. Didolkar, M.D., has achieved survival results with patients with inoperable pancreatic cancers not previously possible. Sinai was also one of the first centers to acquire a new program for lung tumors that tracks the patient?s breathing motion, ensuring individual lung tumors are treated. Lynne A. Skaryak, M.D., head of Sinai?s division of thoracic surgery, uses the CyberKnife to treat lung cancers in patients not able to undergo surgery.

Prostate cancer also is now treatable without surgery with the CyberKnife. Research has shown patients undergoing CyberKnife treatment for certain prostate cancers have a lower rate of side effects.

The CyberKnife Center at Sinai also is one of the few CyberKnife centers in the United States to treat children. Tumors of the eye socket and other unique conditions are also treated here. In select instances, patients with pain syndromes or benign tumors that otherwise would require complex surgery (such as acoustic neuroma) also may be candidates for stereotactic radiosurgery.

The CyberKnife Center at Sinai is an integral part of the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute and the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute. For more information about the CyberKnife Center at Sinai, call 410-601-WELL (9355).




- Kentuckyone Health Turns Down Ethics Panel's Request To Remove Or Change Cancer Treatment Banner Advertisement
A Louisville cancer center features a giant banner that says: "FIGHT CANCER WITH 5 or FEWER TREATMENTS." The treatment, called CyberKnife and performed at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, is a procedure that directs large doses of radiation accurately...

- Guidelines For Prostate Cancer Screening Revised
by Sandra Crockett When it comes to cancer screening, the process of early detection and treatment seem straightforward. But slightly revised guidelines from the American Cancer Society encourage physicians and patients to have a conversation about prostate...

- X-rays Stand The Test Of Time
by Ryan Nawrocki Have you ever thought about some of those medical technologies that just don?t seem to go away? Many were created years ago but have stood the test of time. X-rays are exactly that type of invention ? they have only gotten better with...

- Cellular Disconnect
by Zeena Dorai, M.D., FACS Chief, Neurosurgery, Northwest Hospital; Director, Neuro-oncology, Sinai Hospital Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute Results of a 30-year Scandinavian study bring hopeful news for avid cellphone users. Researchers...

- Treatment Of Tumors At The Berman Brain & Spine Institute
by James E. Conway, M.D. Director, Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery, and Director, Skull Base Neurosurgery, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute Department of Neurosurgery, Sinai Hospital The recent deaths of columnist Robert Novak and Senator...



Health News








.