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The Fayetteville Observer, N.C., Live Wire column
Jan 27, 2012 (The Fayetteville Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Q: What can you tell us about the CyberKnife at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center? Is it a knife-knife, a laser knife, hand-held, robotic or what? I've heard that it is accurate to a scarcely believable degree. -- J.W., Fayetteville
A: The hospital says it's a noninvasive robotic system that treats tumors in the body with precisely placed blasts of high-dose radiation.
The system uses cameras to provide a digital map of a tumor's location. The cameras are then used throughout a treatment session to track any changes in the tumor's position, caused by even so little as the patient's breathing, and to adjust the path of the radiation beams accordingly.
Cape Fear Valley says the precise focus minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and structures.
Meanwhile, because the system can compensate for movements, patients don't have to be confined in rigid frames during the treatment to hold their bodies in place.
CyberKnife treatment is also completed over a much shorter period, according to Cape Fear Valley. The hospital said that in conventional radiation therapy, a patient receives low doses of radiation over 30 to 45 treatments. The hospital said the high-dose CyberKnife treatments can typically be completed in one to five days. It can be used on both cancerous and noncancerous tumors throughout the body.
The hospital says the treatment isn't painful, causes minimal side effects and eliminates the need for traditional surgery in some situations. It's done on an out-patient basis.
Cape Fear Valley had been working for several years to add a CyberKnife system to its cancer center and finally began operating it in January.
The hospital hired a CyberKnife specialist, Dr. S. Gillianne DeFoe.
Q: I have some cold-weather clothes that I'd like to donate to a group that helps the homeless. Can you recommend an organization or location near the Cumberland-Hoke county line? -- G.N., Fayetteville
A: We're not aware of a group right in that area, but you might check with churches around there to see if they could help.
If you can make it into Fayetteville, you can leave outerwear at the Police Department on Hay Street. It'll be distributed by Officer Stacy Sanders and other officers who regularly check on the homeless.
Q: I'd like an address for Ellen DeGeneres. -- T.C., Pinehurst
A: Write the affable talk-show host in care of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, P.O. Box 7788, Burbank, CA 91522, Attn: Fan Mail.
Live Wire seeks to answer questions of general interest and consumer topics within two weeks. Initials are used to identify questioners when names are given. Contact Live Wire at livewire@fayobserver.com, http://blogs.fayobserver.com/livewire or 486-3516.
___ (c)2012 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) Visit The
Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at www.fayobserver.com Distributed by
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