LG Health Receives First Upgrade to its CyberKnife® M6™ System

LANCASTER, PA, March 2015 -- Lancaster General Health’s Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute was the first in the United States to offer the next generation of Accuray® Cyberknife, the CyberKnife® M6™ System in 2013.
 
Now it is the first to receive the commercially available upgrade to M6™ System, the InCise™ Multileaf Collimator (MLC), the most advanced robotic radiosurgery system available today.
 
According to Jeffrey Eshleman, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology, LG Health, it is very difficult for many patients to lie still for a long time while undergoing radiation treatment. This multileaf collimator reduces treatment time from about 40 minutes to 20 minutes. It has greatly expanded the selection of patients eligible for CyberKnife treatment, including patients with prostate and lung cancers.
 
“The collimator’s individual leaves can move independently to track the tumor and automatically correct the intensity and shape of the radiation beam to compensate for body movements,” said Dr. Eshleman. “We can now deliver high doses of radiation with extreme accuracy. It’s a non-invasive, non-surgical, pain-free option for many patients who are looking for an alternative to surgery and for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumors.”
 
The ability to manage motion in real time helps ensure that radiation is delivered only to the tumor while sparing healthy tissue and is particularly helpful for treating tumors of the lung, liver and prostate where movement is common.
 
Research shows that a reduction in radiation exposure to healthy tissue helps reduce side effects associated with treatment. In addition, the CyberKnife System’s robotic arm allows for the delivery of radiation from any angle without the need to reposition patients on the treatment table.
 
LG Health’s Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute is the only provider in Central PA to offer multimodality radiosurgery, including Gamma Knife^®, TomoTherapy^®, CyberKnife^® M6 and TrueBeam™ technology via an integrated-care approach.