Jim Fair
The ribbon cutting for the revolutionary CyberKnife was held Thursday at the Gibbs Cancer Center and Research Institute at Pelham. Left to right: Dr. Jeremy Kilburn, Dr. Timothy Yeatman, Marsha and Jimmy Gibbs, Dr. Julian Josey and Dr. James Bearden III.
Gibbs Cancer Center Photo
Doctors Jeremy Kilburn, left, and Dan Fried of the Gibbs Cancer Center with the CyberKnife.
Gibbs Cancer Center Photo
A unique feature of the CyberKnife System is its robotic tracking technology that enables continuous coordination with a patient’s tumor movement during treatment.
Gibbs Cancer Center Photo
CyberKnife, the innovative technology, targets and eliminates many types of cancerous tumors without surgery or a scar, or an overnight hospital stay.
The Pelham Medical Center gave Greer Family Fest visitors a sneak preview of the CyberKnife last May
CyberKnife, the innovative technology, targets and eliminates many types of cancerous tumors without surgery or a scar, or an overnight hospital stay.
Six doctors will be trained to operate the CyberKnife at the new $5.5 million addition.
The CyberKnife System is able to treat patients in one to five days compared to months with conventional daily radiation treatment. This is because of the CyberKnife System’s extreme accuracy and delivering the precise, maximum dose. Patients’ brief course of treatment is pain-free and typically lasts an hour or less per treatment. The majority of patients are able to comfortably continue their daily routines during the treatment.
When receiving treatment, patients lie on a padded table and breathe normally while the CyberKnife System quietly moves around them.
“This allows us to deliver cutting-edge radiation treatment not previously available to patients in the Upstate,” Dr. Dan Fried, radiation oncologist. “CyberKnife is available only at Gibbs, and unlike any other treatment machine, allows us to treat very small areas with high doses of radiation with the upmost accuracy.
“Some examples of areas that we will be treating will be brain, lung, liver, prostate, bone metastasis and even non-cancerous conditions such as acoustic neuromas and meningiomas,” Fried said. “One of the difficulties of treating cancer is avoiding hitting the normal tissues. With this machine, we are able to treat the tumor very successfully while doing a better job than other machines at sparing patients’ healthy organs.”
A unique feature of the CyberKnife System is its robotic tracking technology that enables continuous coordination with a patient’s tumor movement during treatment. This is crucial for patients receiving treatment for lung and prostate cancer – two areas that are in constant motion.
“Older radiation treatment technology was like building a house with a hammer, nails and a handsaw. CyberKnife technology is more like the computerized components used to build space age equipment,” said Dr. Julian Josey, radiation oncologist at Gibbs.
“CyberKnife places the radiation-producing machine on a computerized robotic arm that beams the radiation with sub-millimeter precision.”
When receiving treatment, patients lie on a padded table and breathe normally while the CyberKnife System quietly moves around them.
The Gibbs Cancer Center at Pelham located off I-85 at 2759 South Highway 14 in Greer. Call 1-855-DNA-GIBBS (362-4222).