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CyberKnife® Offers New Options for Cancer Patients Like Lawrence Bates
Network: July 2009

Cancer survivor Lawrence Bates

Lawrence Bates of Portsmouth was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1997 and promptly had surgery and chemotherapy.

“Everything was going great,” Bates recalls. “I didn’t think I’d look back after that.”

However, in 2002, the cancer returned and metastasized to his liver.

“I went through the full gamut of emotions; fear, anger and finally, trust,” he says. “I had to come to grips with what I really believed and know that God’s plans for me are good, regardless of my understanding. I’ve been able to move forward ever since.”

Determined to win the fight against a deadly invader, Bates underwent a battery of aggressive therapies, including surgeries to remove portions of his liver and chemoembolization, which injects chemotherapy drugs directly into tumors. He also had traditional systemic chemotherapy and radiofrequency ablation, which uses CT image-guided electrodes inserted into tumors to attack them with heat. The procedures

Watch a patient video on CyberKnife®.

held the cancer in check, for a time.

In January 2008, it returned again. Another round of therapies followed, but the tumors persisted. In December, Bates’ medical oncologist, Thomas Alberico, MD, with Virginia Oncology Associates, recommended the CyberKnife® radiosurgery system, which was coming online at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Dr. Scott Williams and Jennifer Hutchinson, radiation therapy technologist, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, are pictured at the CyberKnife® console.

Bates then met with radiation oncologist Scott Williams, MD, with Eastern Virginia Medical School Health Services, who works with the Sentara Cancer Network. Bates became one the first patients in the region to receive non-invasive, highly-precise radiation therapy with CyberKnife.

“It was by far the easiest procedure I had to deal with,” Bates recalls. The hardest part for him was lying still for several hours during treatments and the mild nausea from the radiation. “Compared to any surgery or chemotherapy,” he says, “it was my easiest recovery in 12 years.”

Bates had four CyberKnife treatments and missed four days of work at Western Branch Community Church, where he is executive pastor for the congregation’s operational and financial affairs.

“That’s how little it impacted my routine.”

“CyberKnife is opening doors for some patients who have run out of options,” says Dr. Williams. “For early stage lung tumors, it is becoming the standard of care for patients who are too sick to tolerate traditional surgery.”

CyberKnife® Patient Benefits

CyberKnife® radiosurgery system, which offers cancer patients a new option in cancer treatment, became available January 2009 at the Sentara Advanced Radiosurgery Center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. This technology, combined with the multidisciplinary team approach of the Sentara Cancer Network, provides the most advanced system of its kind in Hampton Roads. In addition to being highly accurate, the CyberKnife offers many other patient benefits:

Pain-free, non-invasive (no surgical incision) and no anesthesia required;
Outpatient procedure with limited side effects and typically a rapid return to normal activities;
No breath-holding required during the procedure and no invasive head or body frame
CyberKnife is also effective for treating non-cancerous diseases, such as trigeminal neuralgia (severe facial pain).

A course of treatment with CyberKnife is one to five sessions. Computer mapping allows CyberKnife to treat multiple tumors in one session, thus minimizing the time patients spend in treatment.

Unlike older radiosurgery systems that were used for intracranial cases only, CyberKnife can be used to treat organs throughout the body. Another distinct advantage over other technologies is that it does not require a headframe. Other technologies use a metal halo that is screwed into the patient's skull. With CyberKnife, a sophisticated computer guidance system readjusts the treatment as needed when a patient breaths or moves slightly.

“CyberKnife is one of the best technologies available for delivering high-dose radiation against tumors while protecting healthy surrounding tissues,” Dr. Williams says.

An unexpected side benefit to CyberKnife treatment is pain relief. Medical literature reports that some patients with cancer pain find almost immediate relief after treatment with CyberKnife and this benefit is being further explored.

As for Lawrence Bates, he has one hope for CyberKnife treatment of his liver tumors: “eradication.” He’s playing to win.

Learn more about the CyberKnife® radiosurgery system at Sentara.

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