20 years old, nutrition and diet department student Sonny Guerrini from Australia searched through internet and decided to destroy his lung tumour with Anadolu Medical Center's Cyberknife treatment.

Sonny Guerrini , from Sydney Australia was 13 years old when he met cancer for the first time, a 2 cm bulk was detected on his toe. Ewing's Sarcoma was identified. The bulk was taken off by an operation and chemotherapy treatment was started. The result of the treatment was successful but after 3 years a new bulk was found on his right lung. This time a high level of chemotherapy treatment and stemcell transplantation wereimplemented. Sonny got better. In 2008 however, a 6 cm mass was identified near his fifth rib in his lung. At this point doctors recommended him radiotherapy treatment .

Sonny Guerrini made a serious research about the radiotherapy treatment to see if it was really suitable for him or not. He analysed all cancer treatment methods over the internet and discovered the CyberKnife. This treatment method was not in use in Australia yet so he started to get in contact with hospitals in different countries. At the end he decided that Anadolu Medical Center's CyberKnife treatment was the best choice for him and he visited Turkey with his father.

Sonny Guerrini shared with us "why he decided on this treatment and how he decided on Anadolu Medical Center".



Was the CyberKnife treatment offered by your doctors in Australia ?

Frankly , doctors in my country approche to this subject in a traditional way and they wanted to give me a radiotherapy treatment. I think that one of the biggest reasons for this is lack of knowledge and experience because we don't have CyberKnife in our country. I decided that this treatment will be better for me and at the end it was my choice.

Where did you get information about Anadolu Medical Center and how did you reach here ?

I reached them through internet and all my placement procedure into the hospital were realised through internet too. Afterwards a health tourism company organised all travel and accomodations issues for us.

Why did you prefer Turkey ?

CyberKnife treatment is not applicable in every country. They have it in USA and in Europe. Again through internet I got in contact with various hospitals. Some hospitals told us that we might need to wait for a long time. On the other hand Anadolu Medical Center who eavaluated my reports gave me quick response. They told me that they want to see me instantly and they can start to my treatment when the accuracy of the conditions become definite. Time is very important for a patient because you don't have time to waste.

Are you happy choosing Anadolu Medical Center and is there any difference from the hospitals of your country ?

Everything progressed so smoothly and easily. Here, we got much more attention that we expected. Everybody was so nice to us.We felt ourselves completly secure. Most of the employees speak english so we didn't have any problem regarding communication. I can say that the biggest difference of your hospital is your warm relation with your patients.

Do you think that you chosed the right treatment for yourself?

Yes, I took the right decision and I respond to the treatment in a good way. In Australia, If they give me radiotherapy there would be more side effects.

Did you feel any pain and suffering, during or after the treatment?

No. I didn't feel any side effects. During the session you have to lay down without any movement, that's it. No headaches or nausea. I just felt a little more tired than usual, but that's temporary.

Do you intend to come Turkey again?

I want to come back but not for treatment. My doctors will sent my check results - so next time i hope to visit Turkey with my girlfriend, fiends and family.



Prof. Dr. Kayıhan Engin, Radiation Oncology, answered our questions about Cyberknife :

What is CyberKnife?

Cyberknife is a radiotherapy device which can be used for all kinds of tumors in the body. It causes minimal damage to the neighboring normal tissues and organs since it focuses on the tumor very precisely. The treatment time is generally short. CyberKnife can give radiation from hundreds of different directions while two to four fields are generally used in conventional radiotherapy methods. Response rate in lung tumors exceeds 80%.

Your patient Sonny Guerrini seems very satisfied by his treatment. When will you be able to talk about the definite results ?

It is too soon to speak about the results but we can say that the treatment has been completed succesfully as planned. We didn't have any unexpected events. We will see follow up in three months. It is not possible to tell anything in advance because radiation treatment is not like surgical treatment, The effects of radiation may continue weeks and maybe months after the completion of the actual treatment. We have to wait and see the maximum effect of the treatment.

What are the advantages of this treatment for your patient ?

The tumour was very close to the spinal cord. CyberKnife's advantage is that It causes minimal damage to the neighboring normal tissues and organs since it highly focuses on the tumor very precisely. The tumor size was approximately 6.5 cm by 3.5 cm. I advised him to continue his chemotherapy in his country.

The patient is young. Is this an advantage ?

We can not say that the youth of a patient is always an advantage. He is generally in a good condition and it is an advantage for him. His body can tolerate difficult processes such as chemotherapy.

Is his vitality effecting the treatment in a good way ?

The physician and the patient are always together during the process. I believe that the confidence between two parts is a very important factor.

Your patient told us that he didn't feel any side effect during the treatment. He just mentioned the exhaustion. Is this normal?

It is not easy to stay without moving for one hour. Radiation may cause a general fatigue.