A pain free alternative


Rahul, who is 42 years old, had noticed a bulge in his right shoulder for over one year but neglected it as a minor issue. It began to worry him only when the symptoms were persistent and troubling his daily activities and he observed the bulge growing rapidly. When he decided to consult a specialist, most of the doctors advised performing surgery, while many others suspected it to be cancer.

Being dejected, he decided to go for a second opinion in order to prevent chemotherapy and surgical treatment. With the help of ultrasound, which was difficult to identify otherwise, the tumour had a milky white colour and was developing. On proper investigation,non cancerous the reports revealed that lymph nodes had changes from solid to a liquid mass and the affected area was seen with fresh skin growth. Further blood non-cancerous tumor cells and inflammatory cell response. The patient was given a cyberknife treatment which is non-invasive and appropriate for such kind of tumors. It had zero side-effects and he was discharged the same day. The patient had been visiting for over two weeks for a regular post-operative check-up which was fine and is living a hassle free life.

 

A non-cancerous tumour: Also termed benign tumours, these are the abnormal growth of the tumor cells that do not proliferate and spread across the adjacent tissues. Such tumors can cause severity if left untreated, but prognosis is usually favorable with better response to treatment. Once after removal, the chances of re-growth of such cells are almost zero. All such tumours are non-life-threatening, but the probability to get transformed into malignant are very high if not treated in time.

 

Types of non-cancerous tumours: The most common type of benign tumors are Ademona that can arise from the thin epithelial layer of glands. The most common sites to form such tumours are the liver, pituitary glands, thyroid glands, polyps in the colon or uterine cavity.

Fibroids can grow in connective tissues of any organ. Such tumours need immediate attention and appropriate treatment in order to prevent it from becoming malignant.

When the blood vessel cells build-up in the skin or other internal organs, it is referred to as hemangiomas. It is often noticed in the head, neck and the trunk region with reddish or bluish colour. Surgical intervention may only be required in cases when the patient has a difficulty with vision, hearing or voluntary movements.

Lipoma is the most common kind of benign tumor found in adults that grow from the fat cells and are noticeable in the neck, shoulders, and back. They are usually soft to touch, moving and grows slowly. A quicker growth or pain may indicate immediate attention to prevent further complications.

Cyberknife treatment for benign tumours: CyberKnife radiation surgery is the most advanced, non invasive radiation therapy tool available to treat cancerous as well as non cancerous tumours with the help of precise beams of high dose radiation. It is one of the best options for providing ablative dosage and proves to be a valid alternate to surgical intervention. Being non-invasive, it also prevents any kind of blood loss eliminating the need for anesthesia. Even when the conventional therapies fail, cyberknife is also effective in post-operative residuals and in recurrent cases by boosting the conventional radiation.

This radiation therapy works the best for tumours that are up to 3 cm in size and is a very powerful and precise technique, for patients with early-stage primary, medically inoperable tumours. The treatment is safe to administer and also offers a new option in patients with recurrent disease or a single disease in the body. It is a no pain and a no risk, day-care treatment wherein patients are discharged as soon as the session gets over and therefore, no hospitalisation is required. The treatment uses a sophisticated image guidance system to beam high doses of radiation directly to the tumor.

The M6-Cyberknife is uniquely designed to deliver accurate and exact radiation dose even to a moving tumor anywhere in the body, while preventing the adjacent tissue damage. This makes it an ideal treatment option to cure any benign tumour.

Benign tumors are usually a day care procedure that hardly takes up to an hour of treatment and the patient is ready to get back to the daily activities without any hassle. Available at the same cost as any other conventional treatment, it is also pain-free and non invasive in nature along with quick recovery.

 

The writer is a director, neurology, Agrim Institute for Neuro Sciences, Artemis Hospital