One exciting aspect of SBRT is because it is done in fewer fractions, it is less expensive for a payer like Medicare than IMRT, which can cost the government program upwards of $40,000 for a full round of treatments, at least in some areas, Katz said. Also, it only takes a few days to deliver treatment, instead of several weeks.

However, while praising the "cutting-edge" research, an expert warned that the patient follow-up time was too short to reach definitive conclusions and that more research was needed to make sure similar outcomes could be reached by other doctors.


"The follow up is relatively short," Dr. Colleen Lawson, ASTRO's new president, said on the call. "The devil's in the details. We've got to be sure to follow these patients long enough."

On the press call, Katz agreed that longer-term studies were needed but said he has data on some patients seven years out who still have good results and no new toxicities, which he said are generally seen in the first three years.

"I think these results will hold up over time, and I think at this point this should be a treatment that should be strongly considered," he said.

Since being approved to treat tumors all over the body by the Food and Drug Administration nearly 11 years ago, the CyberKnife is mostly used for lung, spine and liver tumors, according to the results of a survey cited by Radiology Today in an article last year.

The abstract is “Five-year Biochemical Control Rates for Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Organ Confined Prostate Cancer: A Multi-institutional Pooled Analysis.” Katz will present it Wednesday at ASTRO.

Katz reported having received honoraria from Accuray Inc., which makes the CyberKnife.


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