A Dagger Against Cancer
Reviewed By
Rating
A Dagger Against Cancer
Our Review Summary
This is an article about a relatively new (i.e. about 40 hospitals in the U.S. have them) medical device – the Cyberknife – that is touted as increasing the accuracy of radiologic cancer treatment. This piece would have been greatly improved by including some information that would allow readers to evaluate the treatment claims made in the patient anecdotes. An important flaw in the article is that it did not contain any mention of clinical evidence whatsoever about the use of the Cyberknife.
The article does serve as a starting point for learning about a potential cancer treatment option for particular situations that are less amenable to more conventional treatments, It would have been a more useful story if it had included some of the difficulties or side effects associated with this treatment in addition to the potential it may hold.
There was no mention of the costs associated with the use of this device. While the reader is told that the device is a “hulking $4.6 million machine,” this doesn’t help with perspective in terms of how it compares in cost with other imaging devices. Most importantly, the reader is left with no information about patient bills from treatment with the Cyberknife or how they might compare to other treatments.
Criteria
Not Satisfactory
There was no mention of the costs associated with the use of this device. While the reader is told that the device is a “hulking $4.6 million machine,” this doesn’t help with perspective in terms of how it compares in terms of the cost of other imaging devices. Most importantly, the reader is left with no information about patient bills from treatment with the Cyberknife or how they might compare to other treatments.
Not Satisfactory
The case reports in the article provide a glimpse of some of the different uses for this medical device, including reducing bone pain from bone metastasis, “cleaning up residual cancer left after surgery,” stopping tumor cell growth, and cleaning away the margins of a tumor in a sensitive location. However, while doing a good job of explaining the different ways this device can be used, the article failed to provide any information to assess how successful it is in accomplishing each of these tasks.
Not Satisfactory
The story didn’t mention any harms or complications associated with the use of the Cyberknife.
Not Satisfactory
This piece did not include mention of specific studies demonstrating the efficacy of the Cyberknife. The presentation of several positive case studies misses the opportunity to help readers understand how they ought to evaluate such case reports.
Satisfactory
This piece did not seem to disease monger about cancer, risks of cancer treatments, or make exaggerated claims for the Cyberknife device. It is presented as perhaps a more accurate tool in situations where conventional treatment may not applicable.
Not Satisfactory
There are quotes from two physicians who use this medical device to treat patients at one hospital, and there are quotes from several patients who have been treated with a Cyberknife. There was no independent perspective from a clinician who uses this and other treatments to treat similar cases.
Satisfactory
This devices is reported as an adjunct to current surgery and conventional radiation treatment, mentioning that for now, it will not replace these.
Satisfactory
The article discusses that this treatment is not available everywhere. One patient example in the story initially had to travel from Hartford to Boston in order to access treatment. A quote in the article includes mention that there are about 40 of these devices currently operating in U.S. hospitals.
Satisfactory
The Cyberknife is a relatively recent system that allows for more better positioning of the patient and focusing of the radiation used for radiosurgical and radiotherapy treatment of cancer. The article mentions that currently about 40 hospitals in the U.S. have this medical device.
Not Applicable
We can’t judge if the story relied solely or largely on a news release. However we do know that the story only quoted two doctors who work with the Cyberknife at one local hospital.
Total Score: 4 of 9 Satisfactory
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like