IMRT and Cyberknife Treatment by Cancer Specialist – Turkey

“In general if we need to radiate different parts that is with different dozes, then I prefer IMRT. For example if we have a patient with nasopharyngeal cancer, we definitely need to radiate bilateral neck too, even if there is no lump in the neck, in that case we need to concentrate on those two nasopharynx but we also give a lower level of doze to the neck.

In this case we definitely need IMRT. But in some cases such as acoustic neuromas in the brain or …. when the lesions are very close to critical structures and margins are visible, then in those cases we definitely use cyberknife. The selection of the technique depends upon the …..

Let me tell about first indications.  In cyberknife mainly for greymatter and in some of those patients…… if you give radiations with the other techniques it’s not easy to give an extra dose to …..with those techniques so cyberknife  is an excellent device to give radiations to previously radiated regions.

We use it for acoustic neuromas and meningiomas. Those are benign tumors actually but because of the quick locations, they may be very problematic. We had many patients with lung cancer. We had very good results. In lung cancer cases we use it for pancreatic cancer, sometimes alone and sometimes in combination with IMRT, we use it for prostate cancer. Recently, we had many patients with liver metastases. Liver is very sensitive to radiations. Until recently we are not been able to use radiation for liver metastases. But with cyberknife, we can easily treat liver metastases with radiations.

In general theoretically we can use cyberknife for tumors in any location and as I said earlier especially in previously radiated patient’s cyberknife may give second chance to the patients, of course in selected patients, cases.

In last 3 or 4 years, we have seen many patients from other countries mainly from Bulgaria, Romania then Turkish speaking countries, Kosovo, some patients from Arabic countries. So we have patients from very far away countries. We have some patients from Australia, Canada, Portugal, but the bulk of the patients are from Balkans. We generally, give second opinion that means if we receive the documents about pathology, about the medical history, about recent situations and previous treatments. If we see the images, then we can give a rough idea if the patient is suitable for cyberknife or IMRT. We can give an idea.”

Patients come to Turkey from different countries like Kosovo, Bulgaria, Romania and some patients come from Arabian countries.  Also patients from far away countries like Australia, Canada, Portugal and Balkans, come to Turkey for high quality cyberknife treatment at affordable cost.  Well-trained doctors and state of art facilities in hospitals make Turkey a perfect destination for these medical tourists.