Five treatments, zero incisions: MercyOne CyberKnife puts prostate cancer survivor back on track

Pat Finan has been a runner his entire adult life. Marathons, 5Ks, even relay runs in his community for a well-known cancer nonprofit. But when a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2021 sidelined him, it was only temporary thanks to MercyOne Richard Deming Cancer Center’s advanced CyberKnife robotic technology. 

CyberKnife is a sophisticated system that delivers precisely focused radiation to tumors using real-time, image-guided robotics. It is a highly effective treatment for many localized tumors. There are no incisions or anesthesia, and side effects are minimal. CyberKnife can treat difficult-to-target sections of the body including the brain, spine, prostate, liver, lungs, head, neck and other areas that other methods or systems cannot reach. 

Today, four and a half years after completing CyberKnife therapy, the 62-year-old married father of three from Knoxville says his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are the “lowest they’ve ever been.”   

Finan had a choice of treatment options including surgery and traditional radiation. He had mixed feelings about going the surgical route and decided that radiation treatments were the right choice for him. “However, I wasn’t excited to make 28 trips from Knoxville to Des Moines for treatment,” he said. That’s when Richard Deming, MD, medical director of the MercyOne Richard Deming Cancer, suggested CyberKnife, requiring just five treatment sessions in most cases. Finan would be the first MercyOne patient, and the first in the state of Iowa to receive prostate cancer treatment using CyberKnife.

“CyberKnife is able to target cancer with sub-millimeter accuracy,” explains Deming. “Better accuracy means a lower dose of radiation to nearby healthy tissue, and this means fewer side-effects for the patient.”

Fewer visits and minimal side effects were the selling point for Finan due to his busy lifestyle. When he’s not volunteering 40 hours a week at his local food bank, he’s training for his next 5K or organizing and running in the Knoxville Cancer Relay (KCR), which has raised more than $280,000 for cancer research and patient support in its 11-year history.

“I was running in the KCR long before my diagnosis, but now it hits a lot closer to home for me,” says Finan. “My teammates stand behind me, and at the same time look to me as an example of what we’re all working toward. I’m not just a runner, I’ve actually benefited from the research – and without the research, we wouldn’t have technology like CyberKnife.”

In 2024, Richard Deming Cancer Center performed 811 CyberKnife treatments.

Learn more about CyberKnife at https://www.mercyone.org/services/robotic-surgery/treatment-and-procedures/cyberknife-radiosurgery