Bloodless Spine RadioSurgery: CyberKnife Center of Miami First With New Technology to Treat Spine Tumors.

MIAMI -- South Florida continues to blaze trails in the battle against cancer. This week, the CyberKnife Center of Miami became the first clinical installation in the United States to treat spinal tumors with a new spine tracking system that speeds up treatment and reduces risk and cost by eliminating the need for the surgical implantation of radiographic markers known as fiducials.

Using a robotic arm and missile guidance technology, CyberKnife delivers targeted doses of radiation to often inoperable tumors with sub-millimeter accuracy. The center treats tumors and cancer in the brain, spine, lungs, liver, breast, pancreas and head and neck. Treatment is covered by major insurance carriers and costs 20 to 45 percent less than conventional surgery.

Previously, CyberKnife patients with spinal tumors would have tiny stainless steel markers placed in the spine in order to assist the CyberKnife in precisely targeting tumors. The minimally invasive implantation of the markers required a short hospital visit under anesthesia. Though state-of-the-art at the time, the procedure added time, money and a hospital stay to the regimen for patients with spinal tumors.

"The CyberKnife Center of Miami continues to offer the most technologically advanced procedures available in the world for the treatment of cancer and tumors," said Dr. James Schwade, executive director of the CyberKnife Center of Miami. "The new spine tracking system is another major leap in radiosurgery. The risk of infection is reduced, and most importantly, we no longer need to implant markers near what are typically diseased spines."

The Xsight(TM) Spine Tracking System, developed by CyberKnife manufacturer Accuray, relies on the bony anatomy of the spine to automatically locate and track tumors along the spinal column. Patients with spinal tumors now receive a computerized tomography (CT) scan, the results are downloaded into the Xsight software, and the system creates a highly detailed measurement grid for the CyberKnife to follow. This non-invasive system enables neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and medical physicists to easily treat cancerous and benign tumors without implanting fiducials.

Primary benign spine tumors are uncommon and make up less than 5 percent of bone tumors. Many however are in difficult to reach locations and can develop within the substance of the spinal cord itself and disrupt neurological function in the spinal cord. Metastatic disease of the spine is much more common. Approximately 40 to 80 percent of patients who die from cancer have bony metastases at the time of death, with the spine being the most common site for skeletal metastases. The primary rationale for treating spinal metastases is the relief of pain and halting further deterioration of the spine. CyberKnife, because of its accuracy, can often treat spine tumors that are deemed inoperable by directing high doses of radiation without damaging adjacent normal tissue. Spine tumors most commonly treated with CyberKnife include: meningioma, schwannoma, neurofibroma, hemangioblastoma, arteriovenous malformations, chondrosarcoma, chordoma, ependyoma, spinal metastases from many sources, myeloma, lymphoma, and Ewing sarcoma.

More than 10,000 patients worldwide have been treated by the CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery system at 35 centers worldwide. Developed by Dr. John Adler, a Stanford University neurosurgeon, it is the only robotic image-guided radiation system that enables the precise targeting and treatment of tumors throughout the body. The CyberKnife Center of Miami is an independent, free-standing center and is open to select community physicians who have been trained and credentialed in CyberKnife radiosurgery. For more information, call 800-204-0455 or visit www.cyberknifemiami.com.