iQuestions: Cyberknife Procedure for Prostate Cancer

CyberKnife is a newer technology that allows noninvasive treatment of prostate cancer

University Hospital's Case Medical Center is one of the initial institutions offering CyberKnife technology

CyberKnife delivers highly focused radiation directly at the prostate and tracks the movement as the prostate moves

CyberKnife allows very precise treatment of the prostate while minimizing injury or side effects from surrounding organs

CyberKnife treatment does not involve chemotherapy or other treatments and is standalone

CyberKnife is currently being used to treat patients with low risk or intermediate risk prostate cancer

Eligibility criteria for CyberKnife include PSA less than 10, Gleason score of 3+4 or less, and low to intermediate risk disease

Standard external beam radiation for prostate cancer can be 5 days a week for 6 to 9 weeks, up to 45 treatments

CyberKnife treatment consists of 5 treatments total

Each CyberKnife treatment takes about 1 hour, for a total of 5 hours of treatment

No prostate cancer treatment has been able to totally remove the possibility of having side effects

CyberKnife patients have been having about 2 to 3 weeks of either no side effects at all, very mild urinary or rectal side effects, or sometimes bothersome rectal or urinary side effects

Most side effects from CyberKnife have gone away by 3 to 4 weeks

Potential side effects of CyberKnife include urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction

Urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction have been found to be very minimal in CyberKnife patients so far