New Stanford study on CK FSR on AN's

[Mark]

Everyone is always looking for clinical studies in evaluating treatment options. Attached link is the most recent I have found from Stanford published in June of this year. 270 AN's treated with up to 4 year follow up ( which includes me I guess  ). Thought it might be useful  to some folks.


Mark

http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/frdActionServlet?choiceId=showPublication&pubid=66900&fid=4735

[jamie]

Thanks for the link Mark

It's good to finally have some published CyberKnife studies, and you're part of the success stat, that must be cool. I hope to join that club in four years. The 74% hearing preservation is pretty impressive. For my lower cranial nerve schwannoma, the nerve preservation rate with gamma knife was very high, so it should be even higher with CyberKnife. They say the lower nerves are more resistant to radiation damage, so I'm optimistic. Good find.

[CC]

I bought Dr Chang's whole report a couple of weeks ago and as you say the results are pretty impressive.  However, as Dr Chang freely admits the study is relatively small and over only a 4 year time period.  However, I for one am pleased there is actually a study out there.  I look forward to the time that CK practitioners can do a longer term comparison of surgery vs CK vs GK.  I think those results will be truly eye opening.

I've also bought several reports looking at regrowth, and separately the incidence of malignant tumors following both surgery and CK.  To date I've found nothing to indicate that, over the shorter term (CK has only been around for a few years) CK has any higher incidence of regrowths or malignancies than surgery. 

CC

[Larry]

Thanks guys for the comments and also the link to the study. the more info the better.

Larry

[jamie]

Hi Larry

Hope your search for the best second treatment is going well. It's a bummer that you had regrowth after toughing out surgery. Do they have CyberKnife yet where you are? They should at least have Gamma Knife. Good luck!

[Larry]

Hi Jamie,

Sorry about the long time in replying but I have posted my situatiion elsewhere on this site. In Sydney Australia they use a Linac machine. Not sure whether thats GK or CK. Anyway, i'm on a wait and see situation and do not need to do abyuthing for at least a year on the re-growth. Hopefully by the time I need treatment, new technology will be better.

cheers



Larry

[rjbarker]

IRSA (IRSA.org) the International RadioSurgery Association, in conjunction with Univ Pittsburgh, is in process of preparing a survey on outcomes of radiation treatments of ANs. Stay tuned.

[okiesandy]

Last week my neurosugeon and the radiation oncologist told me there was going to be a nationwide study done on radiation treatment for AN's. I would not be a part of it because they evidently are only going to start with new patients and treatments after the study starts.
Answer as to when it will start is soon.

[Cheryl]

   I have talked to a Doctor that has the Linac radiation treatment too.. has anyone had this as opposed to the  CK or other radiation treatment.  It is a one time radiation . It is similar to CK I think as you get the mask and all that...but i keep seeing the GK and CK   but not anything regarding LINAC??  does anyone have experience with this???  thanks Cheryl

[Kilroy1976]

Cheryl:

When I had radiosurgery they used a machine called a Linac Scalpal, which is a one-shot radiation treatment. It uses X rays like a CK, but they have to keep your head perfectly still (head frame) like a GK. You mentioned that your doctor's machine involves only a mask, and if that's true then they almost certainly won't be using the machine that I had.

Someone else may be able to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any machine other than the cyberknife that would not require a headframe. I think the Novalis machine can use a mask, but only if pin point accuracy is not required. Are you sure that a mask is involved rather than a head frame?

[jamie]

Someone else may be able to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any machine other than the cyberknife that would not require a headframe. I think the Novalis machine can use a mask, but only if pin point accuracy is not required. Are you sure that a mask is involved rather than a head frame?

You're right, the Novalis can use either a mask or headframe, but the accuracy is sacrificed without the headframe. The CK is the only machine in which I would trust not having my head bolted still.

[ken]

hello all.  I am having proton radiation at loma linda u. I have had three of twenty eight,so far no side effects at all. This type of treatment uses only a mask. I have a 7mm left side AN I will let everyone know how it's going as it goe's along.  Ken