CyberKnife Program Marks One Year at Lutheran General
Illinois CyberKnife celebrates one year of treating patients this month with the announcement of several operational highlights. The CyberKnife® center was developed as a $6 million investment through a partnership between Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and US Radiosurgery.
Highlights for the program:
• 160 patients have been treated with CyberKnife technology in the first year of operations.
• More than half of those patients travelled from outside Lutheran General’s primary service area to receive treatment.
• Conditions most often treated in the last year include lung tumors, spinal tumors and brain tumors. Brain tumors represent the largest number of cases, with more than 40% of treatments falling into this category.
• Additionally, Illinois CyberKnife has begun treating patients with trigeminal neuralgia, a rare nerve disorder that causes excruciating, electroshock-like pain throughout the face. CyberKnife has been effective at treating these patients and accomplishes this in one visit, with no cutting, anesthesia or recovery time and without the use of a head frame typical of other treatments.
“We’ve given hope to numerous cancer patients in our community and plan to continue building awareness of this cutting-edge technology in our area,” said Dr. Arica Hirsch, medical director of Illinois CyberKnife.
CyberKnife is a robotic radiosurgery system that treats malignant and benign tumors in the head, neck and body with a procedure called stereotactic radiosurgery, a noninvasive method of treating tumors with high-dose radiation delivered in five or fewer outpatient procedures. The result is greatly increased accuracy that spares healthy tissue surrounding a tumor. CyberKnife offers important cancer treatment options for patients with inoperable or surgically complex tumors, or those seeking an alternative to invasive surgery or traditional radiation therapy.
Illinois CyberKnife is a department of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and is located at 1700 Luther Lane, Suite 1110, Park Ridge, Ill. 60068. For more information, call (847) 723-0100 or visit www.IllinoisCK.com.