CityView Magazine

offering new HOPE to cancer patients with tumors previously considered inoperable. S P ECI A L PROMOTIONA L S ECTION M arilyn Spaulding is certainly no stranger to adversity. In 2004, the Clarkton resident under- went aggressive therapy to successfully treat breast cancer. But the victory was short lived. Her cancer returned six years later, this time in her brain. Surgery removed 95 percent of the new tumor. The rest was unreachable by scal- pel without risking Spaulding's life. So she endured weeks of radiation to her entire brain, followed by intensive chemotherapy. The aggressive treatment was frightening and exhaustive, but Spaulding knew it was necessary for the chance to continue living. So when follow-up tests showed her brain cancer was back, she didn't crumble. Instead, she agreed to undergo a new type of radiation therapy with Cape Fear Valley Health's new CyberKnife© Robotic Ste- reotactic Radiosurgery System. The device offers new hope to cancer patients with tumors previously considered inoperable. 4 | April • 2012 The CyberKnife's selling card is its precise ability to deliver high doses of radiation to tumors almost anywhere in the body. The accuracy minimizes damage to surround- ing healthy tissue and structures. The damage traditional radiation therapy often inflicts on the human body requires breaks between treatments so healthy tis- sue can recover. This lengthens the treat- ment process greatly. Spaulding needed just one session with the CyberKnife, which lasted 45 minutes. That was it. No repeat visits, no immobilizer de- vices to wear, and no recovery time after treatment before being discharged home. "It was definitely different," Spaulding said. "The best part was I only had to do it once." Her only inconvenience was preparatory blood work and having a custom facemask made to wear during her treatment. The CyberKnife did the rest, silently firing pre- measured radiation doses into her brain from all angles while she lay on a treatment table. The device can fire radiation from up to 1,200 different angles while approaching its target, thanks to its elaborate design. The radiation emanates from a lens portal built in to the device's massive, computer- controlled head. The entire assembly is attached to a giant robotic arm that has a greater range of motion than any human. The design is similar to robotic arms used on auto assembly lines in BMW and Mer- cedes Benz plants. S. Gillianne DeFoe, M.D., says the Cy- berKnife is a godsend for cancer patients deemed medically inoperable or those who have recurrent disease in areas already exposed to prior radiation. The system has successfully been used to treat cancerous and non-cancerous tumors throughout the body, including the brain, spine, pros- tate, lungs, kidneys and liver. at cape fear v alley heal th

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