Gamma knife

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Hi can someone tell me what this is - I have brain mets and had 10 sessions of radiotherapy a few months ago - been reading other posts and some of them refer to the gamma knife but Ive never heard of it, maybe not suitable for me personally but im curious as to what it is…

Thanks, Jackie

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Hi Jackie, my step mum has recently had gamma knife treatment for a brain rumour. She said it was radiation given by a very high tech machine. She has only needed one treatment which zapped the tumour for eighty minutes. Hopefully this is all the treatment she needs. If you search it on the internet you will find out more. X

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Hi Jackie
There are a few threads on this forum about the gamma knife and also a thread (or 2) about brain mets - not sure if you have seen them already but if not they are worth checking out and posting a question on them as well.
Good luck with your treatment
Nicky

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many thanks for the info, will check out the other posts too, there are so many treatments out there nowadays i cant keep up, but I do trust my oncologist and am sure she’s doing her best for me, just handnt heard of the gamma knife treatment.

Good luck to everyone keep up the hope xx

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You may also want to check Cyberknife, which is similar technology to Gammaknife, but does not require the head to be immobilised.

finty x

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Hi Katiebelu,
I’m quite surprised that your Oncologist has not heard of Gamma-knife for brain mets, because it’s considered to be the ‘gold standard’, in treating brain mets.
Gamma-knife and Cyberknife are two machines that come under the category of stereotactic radiotherapy. These machines are so super accurate that they are sometimes described as radiosurgery machines (although they don’t cut anything). Although all these machines offer stereotactic radiotherapy, they vary quite a bit in what they do, and how they do it. For a good explanation of the various types of stereotactic radiotherapy and how they differ from each other, I would recommend the the links below:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberknife
sdcyberknife.com/comparison.htm

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Really helpful websites - thanks Lemongrass- am hoping my chemo is working but it’s very reassuring to know what other treatments are possible and will now just have to wait and see if the new radiotherapy unit at my local hospital has this latest technology…
Fran