Prostate cancer patients treated with CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System enrolled in RPCR

The CyberKnife Coalition announced today that more than 500 men treated with the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System® have now been enrolled in the first national patient registry designed specifically to track prostate cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy. The multi-institutional Registry for Prostate Cancer Radiosurgery (RPCR), tracks clinical and functional outcomes of men with localized prostate cancer treated at academic and community based centers throughout the U.S.

Launched in July 2010, the RPCR is an independent IRB-approved observational trial registered with clinicaltrials.gov designed to collect information that will be useful in determining the role of radiosurgical treatment for patients with early-stage prostate cancer. In addition to tracking clinical data the registry also collects patient selection and quality of life information, which will be reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and local Medicare contractors.

"We're excited to see such a positive response to the registry," said Mark Perman, M.D., CyberKnife Coalition board member, co-founder of the RPCR and member of South Florida Radiation Oncology. "The RPCR continues to grow rapidly and we are on track to have 20 centers participating by the end of this year.  I anticipate that the registry will become a mechanism for clinicians to measure the quality of the care they provide against a national benchmark of community-based and academic radiosurgery centers and will help fill in the evidence gaps pertaining to prostate radiation."  

Based on its strong belief in the need for the collection of clinical and patient-focused quality of life data for the therapies we offer our patients, the CyberKnife Coalition encourages participation of its membership to join the RPCR. The registry's ability to track real world data allows our members to make a meaningful contribution to the growing body of clinical research and helps to fill evidence gaps across the entire field of radiation.

"With more than 500 patients now enrolled, the RPCR has taken a significant step in building the most comprehensive data source on robotic radiosurgery for prostate cancer," said Linda Winger, president, the CyberKnife Coalition.

By participating in the registry, CyberKnife centers will be better equipped to help patients make the best decision for their individual circumstances, a view that is shared by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research who earlier this month published a patient guide entitled 'Knowing your Treatment Options', an overview of prostate cancer treatment options, that for the first time included SBRT as an treatment option for men with localized prostate cancer.