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The new Cyberknife technology
offers non-invasive radiosurgery
for brain cancer patients. |
Treatment Options
Treatment depends on the type and stage of a patient's cancer. Options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of these treatments. Factors such as the patient's age, general health, occupation, and personal choice, all play a role in determining a course of treatment.
The team at Stamford Hospital is expert at the most innovative techniques for surgical and radiation treatment—designed to remove your tumor with the least possible damage to the surrounding tissue.
Our approach is interdisciplinary. Our team includes expert neurologists, neurosurgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists and nurse navigators. This team meets at monthly cancer conferences to discuss the best possible individualized treatment for each patient.
Surgery
Stamford Hospital is known for expertise in minimally invasive surgical techniques for the treatment of cancer. Benefits of minimally invasive procedures include less pain, less blood loss and less need for blood transfusions. Moreover, it can result in a shorter hospital stay, a quicker recovery and faster return to normal daily activities.
Stamford Hospital has recently opened The Cyberknife Center, located at the Tully Health Center. Cyberknife is a form of stereotactic surgery, a "knifeless" technique that destroys a brain tumor without opening the skull. CT or MRI scan is used to pinpoint the exact location of the tumor in the brain. High-energy radiation beams are trained on the tumor from different angles to destroy the tumor. The advantages of "knifeless" procedures are that they have fewer complications and the recovery time is much shorter.
At Stamford Hospital, sterotactic surgery for tumors of the brain and spine are done with the aid of the Stealth Frameless Stereotactic Navigation System, which gives the surgeon a virtual computer model of the patients brain that is used like a GPS system to ensure a safe and accurate resection of a tumor. Unlike other radiosurgery systems this system does not require patients to be fitted with a rigid and invasive head frame.
Chemotherapy
Progress has been made in the use of chemotherapy for cancer patients. Systemic chemotherapy is often given to advanced disease patients, and is being used more frequently as post-operative adjuvant therapy.
In some instances, radiation therapy is employed simultaneously with chemotherapy, or in sequence with it. The newer targeted therapies, given either with chemotherapy or as single agents, have added to the overall effectiveness of cancer treatment.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is often an important component of brain cancer treatment. It can serve as an alternative to surgery, be used in conjunction with chemotherapy, and can also be effective in relieving specific symptoms. We offer CyberKnife® stereotactic radiosurgery for especially hard-to-reach tumors in non-surgical candidates at our own CyberKnife Center, the first such center in the region.
For more information or to make an appointment please call
1-877-233-WELL (9355).