This month, Cooper CyberKnife Center celebrated its second anniversary. More than 250 patients have received this innovative cancer treatment since its opening in 2008, and the program continues to grow. CyberKnife is a radiosurgery system designed to pinpoint and destroy tumors in the lungs, prostate, liver, pancreas, spine, brain and other locations.

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Cooper University Hospital is pleased to announce the appointment of Tamara A. LaCouture, M.D., as the Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Cooper University Hospital and Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Dr. LaCouture is board certified in radiation oncology and has extensive experience utilizing advanced radiation delivery systems and technologies such as high dose rate brachytherapy (including Mammosite), IMRT, respiratory gating and stereotactic radiotherapy, as well as conventional 3 Dimensional conformal therapy.

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For NASCAR fan James Winder, precision, speed, teamwork and accuracy are not only the attributes of his favorite sport, but also his personal philosophy of cancer care. So, when faced with the challenge of treating his cancer, he decided on Cooper University Hospital’s CyberKnife Center. This cutting-edge radiosurgery system is designed to pinpoint and attack tumors with high doses of radiation from virtually any direction or angle. It uses sub-millimeter accuracy while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.

Mr. Winder, 65, of Marmora, N.J., is married and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. He was diagnosed with cancer of the colon, lung and kidney in February 2007, and had seen several specialists throughout the Delaware Valley for treatment. But because of the complexity of his cancer, not all physicians were up to the task of assuming his care. One physician even told him there was nothing more that could be done and advised him to “put his affairs in order.” Not willing to simply give up, Mr. Winder continued his search.

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(Camden, N.J.) On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, John R. Adler, Jr., M.D., Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine and President of the CyberKnife Society, came to Cooper’s Cancer Institute to see the newly installed CyberKnife System, now available to patients in the South Jersey Region.

The system was developed by Dr. Adler in 1987 and is an image-guided radiosurgical instrument that non-invasively removes tumors almost anywhere in the body. Since it’s installment to Cooper’s Cancer Institute in the summer of 2008, the CyberKnife System has treated over 40 patients.

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(Mount Laurel, New Jersey) Cooper University Hospital is now offering a ground breaking cancer treatment tool. CyberKnife technology, one of the most advanced options in radiosurgery treatment for cancer patients is the first and only radiosurgery system designed to pinpoint and destroy tumors anywhere in the body. The addition of the new Cyber Knife facility, located in Mount Laurel, N.J., makes Cooper the only hospital in the Delaware Valley to have both CyberKnife and Gamma Knife radiosurgery devices. These complementary technologies use highly accurate (sub-millimeter) beams of radiation to destroy cancer cells.

“By having both types of non-invasive technologies available, Cooper’s radiosurgery program addresses tumor treatment for the entire body,” said Simon J. Samaha, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Cooper. “Our expert clinicians work collaboratively to determine the best application for the individual patient. No other institution in the Delaware Valley can do this.”

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