CyberKnife

Vittoria
Vittoria Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi everyone,

I am new to the group and was hoping to get some information about CyberKnife. My father has stage 4 colorectal cancer and has just started irinotecan. We have been told that this is his last option. We live in Canada, so naturally my brother and I have been looking for other treatments in the U.S. We heard about CyberKnife through a friend and are considering bringing my dad to the U.S. for treatment.

Has anyone tried this treatment and if so would you be willing to share your experience with us? Has it been effective? Are there any side effects?

Your help is greatly appreciated,

Vittoria

Comments

  • midnte0708
    midnte0708 Member Posts: 166
    #2
    I'm sorry I can't help you with CyberKnife but you may recieve more replies and information if you give more details about your dad...ex when was his diagnosis, where has the cancer spread and what different type of chemos has he been on..etc..

    There are a lot of different treatments here in the US. I'm not famililar with the standards of treatment in Canada.

    Good Luck,
    Sue
  • Vittoria
    Vittoria Member Posts: 4
    #3
    midnte0708 said:

    I'm sorry I can't help you with CyberKnife but you may recieve more replies and information if you give more details about your dad...ex when was his diagnosis, where has the cancer spread and what different type of chemos has he been on..etc..

    There are a lot of different treatments here in the US. I'm not famililar with the standards of treatment in Canada.

    Good Luck,
    Sue

    Well my father was diagnosed in November 2005 and in February 2006 we were informed that it had spread to his Liver, Lungs and Spleen.

    He underwent 5 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy (5-FU).

    Then he was given some time to rest, after which he had a low anterior resection with coop ileostomy in April.

    In June 2006 he began chemo again, this time 5-FU and Oxaliplatin. This continued with only two short breaks until January 2007. At this point he developed a neuropathy and had to stop. His oncologist thought she could control the cancer with 5-FU alone, however, she was incorrect.

    His spleen is now nearly clear and his lungs are stable. The major problem is his liver where the tumors are growing quite aggressively.

    He has now begun irinotecan, which he appears to be responding to for now.

    I hope this is more helpful. If there is anything I have left out please let me know.

    Vittoria
  • hopefulone
    hopefulone Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #4
    Vittoria said:

    Well my father was diagnosed in November 2005 and in February 2006 we were informed that it had spread to his Liver, Lungs and Spleen.

    He underwent 5 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy (5-FU).

    Then he was given some time to rest, after which he had a low anterior resection with coop ileostomy in April.

    In June 2006 he began chemo again, this time 5-FU and Oxaliplatin. This continued with only two short breaks until January 2007. At this point he developed a neuropathy and had to stop. His oncologist thought she could control the cancer with 5-FU alone, however, she was incorrect.

    His spleen is now nearly clear and his lungs are stable. The major problem is his liver where the tumors are growing quite aggressively.

    He has now begun irinotecan, which he appears to be responding to for now.

    I hope this is more helpful. If there is anything I have left out please let me know.

    Vittoria

    ValerieC mom just had cyber knife I believe. You might want to read back a few posts. Is cryosurgery or rfa or liver pump, alcohol injectin out of the question? Have they ruled all these methods out?My husband has liver mets also. He is on xelox with avastin and oxal. Have you discussed Avastin with onc? We are waiting for a scan next week to see if the mets are shrinking in his liver so I'll let you know if it's working. Good luck and God Bless.
  • midnte0708
    midnte0708 Member Posts: 166
    #5
    Hi Vittoria,

    My father was diagnosed in July 2005 with many large liver mets. He immediately started chemo ... FOLFIRI (irinotecan, leucovorin and F5u -(fluorouracil.)) along with Avastin.
    He has been on this same chemo for almost 2 years. He had a little shrinkage in the first 6 months and since then stable tumors.
    I never really read much about CyberKnife but now I am curious about it. My dad did have a consultation with a liver surgeon who said he could not remove the tumors as they were too close to major arteries.
    Has Canada approved Avastin for use? Maybe this can help you dad also.

    Sue
  • Vittoria
    Vittoria Member Posts: 4
    #6
    hopefulone said:

    ValerieC mom just had cyber knife I believe. You might want to read back a few posts. Is cryosurgery or rfa or liver pump, alcohol injectin out of the question? Have they ruled all these methods out?My husband has liver mets also. He is on xelox with avastin and oxal. Have you discussed Avastin with onc? We are waiting for a scan next week to see if the mets are shrinking in his liver so I'll let you know if it's working. Good luck and God Bless.

    Avastin is available to us through private clinics and clinical trial. However, my dad didn't heal completely after his surgery and so his oncologist worries Avastin will cause bleeding.

    RFA is also possible here in Canada, however i believe it has only been done a small number of times on metastases. Cryosugery and a liver pump are not available to us here in Toronto. I was considering Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York for these procedures.

    I have never heard of alcohol injection. What is this exactly?

    Thanks for your help and good luck to you as well!

    Vittoria
  • hopefulone
    hopefulone Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #7
    http://www.medicinenet.com/percutaneous_ethanol_injection_of_liver/article.htm

    check out the above website and there are others. Sloan Kettering is experienced in all the options. also University Hospital at Syracuse NY has a hepatobilary dept, doing liver resections and rfa , along with the liver pump I believe. We are waiting to see how my husband does with this line of treatment, but will most probably pursue a consult at sloan or major center where they are experienced in liver cancer. Roswell Park in Buffalo is good I heard also. Don't give up and research all options. Thanks for the prayers. They are the most powerful treatment. Good luck and God Bless.
  • Vittoria
    Vittoria Member Posts: 4
    #8
    hopefulone said:

    http://www.medicinenet.com/percutaneous_ethanol_injection_of_liver/article.htm

    check out the above website and there are others. Sloan Kettering is experienced in all the options. also University Hospital at Syracuse NY has a hepatobilary dept, doing liver resections and rfa , along with the liver pump I believe. We are waiting to see how my husband does with this line of treatment, but will most probably pursue a consult at sloan or major center where they are experienced in liver cancer. Roswell Park in Buffalo is good I heard also. Don't give up and research all options. Thanks for the prayers. They are the most powerful treatment. Good luck and God Bless.

    Thank you for the information. Sloan Kettering may be too expensive for us and too far (given my dad's current condition). I wasn't informed about these other centers, so thank you for bringing them to my attention. Roswell Park may be a better option as it is closer.

    Thanks again for your support!

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