NanoKnife
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As an FYI on Nanoknife, University of Louisville under Dr. Martin has a program that offers a 75% off the hospital bill if paying out of pocket.
Briola, please see my last post this morning to LisaAnn. Sadly you are both at the same place and time, my offer goes for you as well. Sadly this seems to be my forte around here lately but if I can help, that is my goal. Hang in be strong!
Thank you Lainy so much. I was feeling helpless I didn’t know what else I can do for my Dad. I already asked arround in the hospital and will meet with someone tomorrow morning. Thank you once again for taking your time to give me information it’s hard when no one arround you understands or knows what the cancer is that is affecting our loved ones.
Just a couple of points Briola. When you call the ONC or GP for Hospice they will come usually in 24 hours. They will ask you what you think you need after they interview you and your Dad. Tell them you want a Hospital Bed as it makes it easier for him to move around and get up. You will want a walker for him and I know that when I ordered Oxygen it helped Teddy to relax and even helped with pain. Yes, it is all hard in the beginning but you will be so glad you did it. Oh, one more thing, a commode. Teddy actually didn’t use it but at least it was by the bed. Any questions just ask.
Thank you Lainy and Marion, my Dad is currently at UCI Medical Center, but we were told there is not much they can do anymore. The doctors also said he wont be able to take chemo because he is too weak. I will ask about Hospice nurse. I didn’t know about any assistance we could get. My DaD can’t even close a water bottle and three weeks ago he was playing with my niece.
Gaby….I am so sorry to hear the latest news. I have learned that in advanced stages of this disease a tumor may block the passage of food or even liquids.
Gaby, I would make sure to call the physician. He/she should be made aware of the current situation. My heart is with you. Please stay in touch.
Hugs,
MarionBriola, I am so very sorry to hear about your dad. There are Meds for vomiting, have you called the ONC? Has the ONC mentioned Hospice? You can start with Hospice a year ahead and they will do everything they can to make Dad more comfortable. The ONC can put in the order for Hospice and they come like in a day and get all set up. At any rate someone needs to notify the ONC of what is going on with Dad if he is not aware. Best wishes and I hope you can get him to a comfortable
place.Hi everyone, so my Dad had the Nano knife done in April everything had gone well, he was doing good. However This past June 25 we found out my Dads cancer grew and started spreading fast. The cancer is now all over the liver as well as on his spine, and the doctors also found an Ulcer. His health has declined in the past two weeks, he can no longer handle chemo or eat. He is in heavy sleep most of the time and very weak. My Dad has no appetite and can’t keep what little he eats in. Does anyone have any ideas to keep my Dad from vomiting? He keeps saying he feels as if there is no room in his stomach
Thanks for the link Helen and that would be great if you could let us all know if you hear anything else from the person that contacted you.
For those in the UK, I found these links –
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/IP/838
Best wishes,
Gavin
There was an article in the British press very recently about the NanoKnife technology:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2124221/3-000-volt-jab-shrunk-inoperable-cancer-half.html
So far we are not aware of anyone in the UK undergoing this procedure for CC – however we were recently approached by someone whose 55 yr old mother had just been diagnosed with inoperable CC and her oncologist has agreed to sending her scans and information to Professor Edward Leen who is working on the NanoKnife technology, for his opinion. (Prof Leen is Chair in Radiology (Ultrasound) at the Department of Medicine, Imperial College London).
If we hear of the outcome, we will let you know.
Kindest regards
Helen
Thank you Lisa, and Chris for all of the information. My Dad is still currently in recovery and is on liquids only. I had another question, my dad doesn’t want to eat anything because he feels everything is swollen inside,is that normal, and part of the heeling process?
Ah, thank you, Dr. Sonnenday. Just an FYI, Teddy had no side effects from the Cyber Knife however 2 years later the CC returned in the area that it had been used. We were thrilled that it bought him 2 years without side effects like chemo causes.
Both are clever marketing names – the technologies used are very different.
CyberKnife = robotic radiosurgery system. It is a shame that surgery is used in the name of this technology, because it is not a surgical procedure or operation. It is a technique of providing radiation therapy that uses image guidance and a robotic delivery system in an attempt to deliver the radiation beams more accurately. Most state of the art centers use the technique of stereotactic radiotherapy (image-guided, precisely targeted radiation), and the CyberKnife is one form of that treatment.
NanoKnife = ablation technique using irreversible electroporation to kill tumor cells. As I described above it is an ablation technique like radiofrequency ablation (RFA) – i.e. you stick a probe into the tumor and deliver energy to kill the cells, in this case by disturbing the cell membranes by brief electrical pulses. The advantage of this treatment as opposed to RFA or other ablative techniques is it is more focused energy without as much toxicity to surrounding normal tissues. We are very early in our experience with this treatment and awaiting to see its effect in a disease like cholangiocarcinoma.
CJS
Can someone explain the difference between Nano Knife and Cyber Knife. As you know Teddy had Cyber Knife and it had bought him another good 2 years. It was a walk in the park compared to other treatments. Just curious.
We have some experience with the NanoKnife at UM, and I have been watching carefully for any experience from other centers. It is an ablative technique, similar to radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or microwave ablation. It’s reported advantage is that it does less damage to surrounding normal structures (bile ducts, blood vessels), thus potentially allowing us to treat centrally located liver tumors, or tumors in the bile duct outside the liver, that are hard to treat with RFA.
Early experience suggests that it is safe and relatively easy to use either in the OR or percutaneously (through the skin) using ultrasound guidance. However the early recurrence rate in limited studies is a bit discouraging. More work is needed to figure out how to best use this therapy. However, given its relative safety it may allow us to treat some tumors we have not been treating well to date.
How it compares to radioembolization or chemoembolization is not clear. My personal opinion is that radioembolization has the most encouraging response rates of the liver-directed therapies.
Happy to discuss further. Feel free to email me any questions.
Chris Sonnenday
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