Medical world abuzz about cancer-killing CyberKnife

Harley Street Clinic, the UK's world famous cancer medicine centre, will use it for the first time this week; India's Apollo Hospitals is set to acquire two. It is the CyberKnife, the revolutionary (and expensive) new treatment for cancer.

The device maps the movement of a patient's breathing so that tumours can be targeted with greater accuracy than is currently possible. It then uses a robotic arm to deliver multiple beams of high-dose radiation from a wide variety of angles. The patient's breathing is monitored with the aid of X-ray cameras, and the radiotherapy beam is repositioned accordingly to minimise damage to surrounding tissues.

The CyberKnife is effectively a compact linear accelerator mounted on a 'picasso' robot. It works in conjunction with CT cancer mapping technology and calculates how much radiotherapy a tumour needs to destroy all cancer cells without harming surrounding tissue.

A separate camera monitors the effectiveness of the operation and works with the robotic arm so that it moves with the movement of the patient's breathing. This technique enables even tumours in difficult positions and dangerous to operate on, such as near the spinal chord, liver, or kidney, to be treated safely.

The machine is said to be worth 2.5 million pounds. Ten people are lined up for treatment at Harley Street Clinic, at a cost of 15,000 to 20,000 pounds per patient.

Apollo likes it
Apollo Hospitals in India expects to invest about Rs 80 crore in acquiring two CyberKnife systems. Addressing a press conference after setting up the first CyberKnife facility in Chennai, Dr Prathap C Reddy, executive chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group, said the company plans to set up two more such robotic radio surgery systems in two cities, but the locations are yet to be decided.

Dr Sanjay Chandrasekar, senior consultant, radiation oncology, elaborated, "This is breakthrough technology, a combination of image guidance and computer-controlled robotics, enables us to deliver an extremely precise dose of radiation to the tumour. Even if the patient moves, the image guidance technology tracks it with unfailing accuracy."

It is a pain-free procedure, and needs only four sittings of 20-30 minutes each, with no anesthesia involved. "The patient lies comfortably on the treatment table, which automatically positions the patient. The treatment involves administration of between 100 and 200 radiation beams from different directions, each lasting about 10 to 15 minutes," said Dr Mahadev Potharaju, senior consultant, oncology.

The treatment will cost Rs4 to Rs5 lakh. Each CyberKnife along with accessories will cost Apollo around Rs65 crore. Pratap Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospital Groups, said, "Cyberknife is a superweapon: without blood, without the use of a knife, it brings cure anywhere in the body."

However, many bloggers have raised concerns about the high cost of the treatment.