CyberKnife increasingly used to treat lung tumors

SUNNYVALE, California-Accuray Incorporated has announced that approximately 90% of the more than 125 CyberKnife centers worldwide are now treating lung cancer with the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System. CyberKnife centers in 12 countries have treated more than 5,000 lung cancer patients to date with the CyberKnife System, the company said in a news release.

“CyberKnife represents an important advance in the treatment of lung cancer,” said Richard White, MD, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, Stanford University Medical Center. “The CyberKnife System’s unparalleled accuracy allows me to offer an effective noninvasive treatment option for patients with early-stage lung cancer who are not good candidates for surgery.”

Combined with Accuray’s Synchrony Respiratory Tracking System and Xsight Lung Tracking System, the CyberKnife system enables physicians to deliver radiation accurately, even while the patient breathes normally, and reduces the risk of damaging surrounding healthy tissues and critical structures, the company said.

“The CyberKnife System is well positioned to meet the growing need for lung cancer treatments, as diagnoses of the disease are expected to increase exponentially around the world in the coming years,” said Eric P. Lindquist, a senior vice president at Accuray.

The World Health Organization projects that lung cancer incidence will increase from 18 million cases in the 20th century to 180 million cases in the 21st century worldwide, fueled by an anticipated rise in the use of tobacco products in the underdeveloped world.

Randomized study

Accuray is partnering with investigators from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to launch a prospective multinational clinical study to compare treatment outcomes in early-stage operable lung cancer.

The researchers plan to randomize 1,000 patients to traditional surgery or CyberKnife.

Principal investigator Jack Roth, MD, said, “The time is right to explore less invasive alternatives for early-stage lung cancer patients. . . . The results of this study may change the way lung cancer patients are treated.”

Dr. Roth is professor and Bud Johnson Clinical Distinguished Chair, Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, M.D. Anderson.