Treating pancreatic cancer with conventional radiation therapy has been a challenge because tumors in and around the pancreas move when you breathe. Patients often had to hold their breath, practice respiratory gating techniques or endure uncomfortable compression devices to restrict movement as much as possible during treatment. Even with these practices, tumor movement makes it tough for conventional systems to accurately focus radiation on the tumors themselves, which results in, damage to healthy tissue and nearby organs.

As a result, conventional radiation treatment for pancreatic cancer must be delivered in small doses in 25 to 40 treatments sessions over the course of several weeks to minimize any radiation damage to the healthy tissue surrounding the tumors.

The CyberKnife System combines advanced, real-time image guidance, tumor-tracking software, and sophisticated robotics to treat pancreatic tumors more comfortably and more effectively than conventional radiation treatments. The CyberKnife System takes an image of your tumor just before each radiation beam is delivered and its sophisticated Synchrony® Respiratory Tracking System tracks your tumor’s movement as you breathe normally during treatment. The combination of these technologies enable adjustments to ensure that radiation is delivered to the tumor with sub-millimeter accuracy, sparing healthy surrounding tissue and organs.

Because of this accuracy, the CyberKnife System can deliver high doses of radiation safely, allowing you to complete treatment in just one to five treatment sessions over consecutive days.

Patients typically experience minimal to no side effects and have a quick recovery time because the CyberKnife System delivers pancreatic cancer radiation directly to the tumor, minimizing damage to healthy tissue.