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Stereotactic Radiosurgery/Radiotherapy

• Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS)

  SRS differs from conventional external beam radiation in that it uses a large dose of radiation to destroy the tumor in a single treatment. This is possible because the x-ray beams are focused from different angles on a small, localized area. It is used to treat small brain and spinal cord tumors (benign and malignant), arteriovenous malformations (a type of vascular disorder), and other blood vessel abnormalities. Although it does not involve actual surgery, SRS is sometimes used along with conventional surgery to treat tumors.

  During treatment, a special linear accelerator designed specifically for this type of treatment moves around the patient's body so that radiation beams hit the target from different sides. Computer software calculates the angles of the beams that will best treat the target. The target receives the full dose, but the surrounding healthy tissue only receives a small percentage of the radiation dose. The patient's head typically is placed in a special frame, or "halo", to prevent any movement during the treatment.

  Alternatively, with Frameless SRS, the patient is fitted with a more comfortable flexible mesh facemask. In this case, low-dose x-ray images are taken throughout the treatment to continually track the position of the tumor.

• Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT)

  SRT uses the same technique as SRS, but instead of delivering a large dose of radiation in one session, SRT gives multiple small doses of radiation over several sessions. The radiation delivered in each session is a fraction of the total dose, so this approach is also called "fractionated SRT." The number of treatments is based on the size and type of tumor being treated and its proximity to adjacent tissues. This approach is appropriate for tumors that are larger than 3 cm or are very close to critical structures such as the eyes. It is believed that giving multiple smaller doses in this way may improve outcome and minimize side effects.

• Extracranial SRS

  Extracranial SRS (also called "body SRS") uses the same principles as stereotactic radiosurgery for the brain, but is applied to other areas of the body. This new treatment uses computer imaging to assure that the correct location is targeted, and allows for precise delivery of high-dose radiation to sites such as the prostate, spine and liver.