If you’re like many prostate cancer patients, once you’ve been diagnosed, first you want to find the right treatment option for you. Second, you want to get that treatment as soon as possible.
That way you can put prostate cancer in the rear-view mirror and move forward without worry.
Easier said than done with most prostate cancer treatments and at most cancer centers. It can take weeks or even months to get scheduled and treated. Not with CyberKnife, and certainly not at the CyberKnife Center of Miami where we use CyberKnife, a highly targeted form of stereotactic body radiation therapy or SBRT to treat prostate cancer.
CyberKnife for Prostate Cancer
CyberKnife kills tumors with precision and accuracy, and it leaves healthy tissue unaffected.
“CyberKnife is the most effective, safest, and quickest way to treat prostate cancer so you can put it behind you and get on with your life,” says Dr. Mark Pomper, board-certified radiation oncologist and medical director at the CyberKnife Center of Miami.
Because of CyberKnife’s advanced technology, treatments for most prostate cancer can be completed in five sessions.
The experts at CyberKnife Miami believe it’s best to spread those five treatments over 10 days. That means a patient would have a treatment every other day for 10 days.
“Why?” some patients ask.
At CyberKnife Miami, we have treated hundreds of prostate cancer patients since opening our doors two decades ago, and we know experience counts when it comes to finding the easiest, most effective protocol for our prostate cancer patients.
Our vast experience shows us that five consistent days of treatment can lead to some level of irritation, and treatment every other day means less irritation and fewer side effects overall.
Side effects of CyberKnife can include tiredness and urinary and rectal irritation. However, medications, oftentimes just over-the-counter medications can help minimize these, and they usually resolve themselves in a few weeks. Should you have any side effects, call the team at CyberKnife Miami right away. They can advise you on what to do to ease any symptoms.
Bottom line, treatment in 10 days with little interruption to your life is doable – especially when you look at the alternatives.
Surgery for Prostate Cancer: A Slow Road to Recovery
For men who opt for surgery to remove the prostate, recover can be slow.
According to the Mayo Clinic, you’ll be hospitalized at least overnight, you’ll have a catheter in place for seven to 10 days after surgery, and it will take four to six weeks before you can resume regular activities.
And it may take even longer to recover from side effects like erectile dysfunction and incontinence.
“After simple prostatectomy, you can still have an orgasm during sex, but you’ll ejaculate very little or no semen. After radical prostatectomy, full recovery of erectile function may take as long as 18 months for some men,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Other Types of Radiation for Prostate Cancer
With traditional radiation, most prostate cancer patients need up to 42 treatments, which can take about nine weeks to complete. Even with proton therapy – another type of highly targeted external beam radiation – patients may need to be treated in with 28 treatments over several weeks.
And with each of these forms of radiation patients may experience some prolonged side effects – like incontinence or impotence.
Most side effects from these radiotherapy treatments gradually go away in the weeks or months after treatment, according to the medical journal Cancer Research UK.
CyberKnife Treatment for Prostate Cancer in Miami
But why not get back to your regular routine, and life, cancer-free faster?
Five CyberKnife treatments over 10 days offers some clear benefits other than a shorter treatment and recovery time frame:
- It’s noninvasive.
- There are no risks of infection.
- The CyberKnife radiation beams, which target and destroy the tumor, are exceedingly precise, destroying the tumor without destroying healthy surrounding tissue.
- There are less risks of side effects including impotence and incontinence.
- CyberKnife moves with the patient to make sure the tumor is the only thing targeted.
- If the cancer returns, it can be treated again.
Plus, CyberKnife alone can treat prostate cancer, especially if it’s low grade and localized to the prostate. For early prostate cancers, the success rate with CyberKnife is 98%.
So, if you are facing a prostate cancer diagnosis, call us right away at 305-279-2900 to find out how we can help you get rid of your cancer and get your life back on track as fast and simply as possible. You can also go to our prostate cancer website now for more information www.prostatecancertreatmentmiami.com.