Treatment Options > Radiation / Radiosurgery

cyberknife vs gammaknife?

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hollo321:
hey im leaning towards radiation rather than retrosig surgery of my 1.7 tumor since from what i read on this forum sounds like its better for hearing preservation, but another decision is what kind of radiation as im not so familiar of the benefits of one over the other. Im a musician so saving my hearing is my top priority.
Is one known to be better than the other in terms of hearing preservation?

DanFouratt:
I am in your shoes trying to decide between surgery and radiation.  In my research my understanding is gamma and cyber are similar in the radiation delivered, they are simply two different machines from different companies.  I am putting a matrix together with my findings, trying to understand the pluses and minus of all approaches.  I am meeting a retired Chair of Radiation Oncology later this week and will specifically ask him your question.

bri-82:
I've had both (neither really worked well for me). But I've heard that GK is more precise...

~BM

ANviolist:
Hi, I’m a musician too and had Cyberknife last October. With Cyberknife they could fractionate the treatment over 3 days, which they theorize helps preserve the remaining hearing. I retested after 6 months and so far so good, my hearing is unchanged from before treatment. One good factor for me was there was a space between the tumor and my cochlea, so they could avoid zapping the cochlea. Dr. Chang said the auditory nerve itself is pretty rugged.

DanFouratt:
Just ended a phone call with the Dean of Radio oncology and asked him the difference.

Both Cyber knife and Gamma Knife use the same basic technology and radiation.  They differ in the manufacturer of the machine, the method of securing your head in place and how the source of radiation moves.  CK uses a mask and GK uses a head set to secure the head in place.  The CK radiation source (in the arm arm) moves to hit you from different angles and GK has multiple radiation sources to hit you from different angles. They both are capable of delivering each one and done and well as three three and done.

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