Broward Health is South Florida’s First Hospital System to Offer CyberKnife Radiosurgery

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 23, 2009 – Deerfield Beach, FL – South Florida’s first and only hospital-based Cyberknife – the world’s most advanced robotic radiosurgery system used to treat tumors – is now available at Broward Health North Broward Medical Center.

CyberKnife provides a non-surgical alternative for treating cancers and tumors of the head, spine, pancreas, prostate, liver and lungs. Its robotic arm is able to follow a patient’s movement and can treat the patient from any direction to delivers highly localized, high doses of radiation from outside the body to a tumor or lesion inside the body.

“This non-invasive treatment allows tumors to be tracked in real-time, thereby potentially offering the best whole-body radiosurgery solution for our South Florida community,” said Anurag Agarwal, M.D., medical director of radiation oncology for Broward Health.

The treatment typically last about one to two hours and is virtually painless. Through the image guided approach, the CyberKnife continually tracks, detects and corrects for any movement of the patient and the tumor to ensure precise targeting.    

The CyberKnife is the latest addition to Broward Health’s cancer fighting arsenal. The latest versions of the Varian Trilogy Image Guided Radiation Therapy Systems (IGRT) are available at Broward General Medical Center and North Broward Medical Center. The da Vinci robotic surgery system, specializing in gynecological and prostate surgeries, is available at Inperial Point Medical Center. And Broward Health plans to be the first hospital system in South Florida to add proton beam radiotherapy as soon as 2011.

“Our investment in this technology, along with our highly skilled medical team underscores our commitment to cancer treatment and establishes Broward Health as a clear leader in cancer care,” said Frank Nask, President and CEO of Broward Health. “Broward residents no longer have to leave their home and family to receive the most advanced treatment options.”

Cancer is second only to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S. Currently, one in every 26 people has had cancer but that number is projected to rise to one in 19 by the year 2020.

Broward Health, providing service for more than 50 years, is a nationally recognized system offering world class health care services to our neighbors in South Florida. One of the 10 largest public health systems in the nation, Broward Health includes Broward General Medical Center, North Broward Medical Center, Imperial Point Medical Center, Coral Springs Medical Center, Chris Evert Children’s Hospital, Broward Health Weston and more than 30 facilities of the Community Health Services and Broward Health Physician Group. For more information visit www.browardhealth.org.