CyberKnife radiosurgery: Quality of life and cost considerations

Abstract

Minimally invasive treatment alternatives, such as the CyberKnife® (Accuray Incorporated, Sunnyvale, CA), are becoming increasingly important. The benefits of minimally invasive treatments are not limited to improvements in efficacy and safety. Thorough evaluation of these treatment modalities also requires in-depth examinations of financial costs and effects on the patients' quality of life. Appreciation of the CyberKnife's viability as a treatment option for thoracic malignancies such as early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will depend heavily on such analyses. This chapter will focus on the steps involved in undertaking the difficult challenge of assessing costs and quality of life outcomes for CyberKnife treatment of early-stage NSCLC. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.