Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Pain-Free Procedure — The radiation treatment is a pain free, non-invasive alternative to surgery. The treatment does not require anesthesia, eliminating some of the risks associated with traditional surgery.

Minimal Recovery Time — Treatments are performed on an outpatient basis with little or no recovery time, compared to traditional surgery which can require an overnight hospital stay. This allows patients to return to normal activities almost immediately.

Superior Comfort — Patients experience improved comfort due to the system’s frameless design, which eliminates the pain and inconvenience associated with invasive head and body frames typically associated with other radiosurgery systems.

Traditional radiation therapy typically delivers radiation to a wide field of tissue in the body resulting in the treatment of both the tumor and some amount of surrounding healthy tissue, delivered over a period of weeks. Radiosurgery devices, such as CyberKnife®, were designed to deliver radiation with extreme accuracy, targeting the tumor with minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. With this level of accuracy, clinicians can deliver very high doses of radiation safely with minimal effect to surrounding healthy tissue in one to five days compared to weeks of traditional radiation therapy.

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a non-invasive surgery that uses computer delivered radiation to treat cancerous and non-cancerous tumors within the head, spine, lungs, prostate, liver, pancreas, and more. Below is a list of some intracranial (head and brain) tumors and lesions that can be treated:

• Acoustic neuroma
• Anaplastic astrocytoma
• Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
• Craniopharyngioma
• DNET
• Ependymoma
• Gangliocytoma
• Germinoma
• Glioblastomas (certain cases)
• Gliomas (certain cases)
• Glomus jugulare tumor
• Hemangioblastoma
• Meningioma
• Neurocytoma
• Neurofibroma
• Oligodendroglioma
• PNET
• Pituitary adenoma
• Schwannoma
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Vestibular schwannoma

Below is a list of some extracranial (outside of the head and brain) tumors and lesions that can be treated:

• Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
• Colon cancer
• Hepatocellular carcinoma
• Nasopharyngeal
• carcinoma
• Non small-cell lung cancer
• Osteosarcoma
• Ovarian cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Renal cell carcinoma
• Small-cell lung cancer
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Uterine cancer

Although the number of treatments can vary depending on the type of cancer, a patient’s general health, and the radiation technique used, radiation treatments can be completed in just one to five visits. Each treatment session typically takes 30-60 minutes.

Depending on the medical condition targeted, the time frame can range from days, months, or years more slowly. Some tumors may disappear slower than others or may simply stop growing and present no further cell activity. After treatment, patients are typically asked to get periodic images (CAT scan or MRI) of their tumor(s) and additional tests so the physician can monitor the effectiveness of the treatment.

Side effects, if there are any, are cumulative, which means they develop over the course of treatment as the radiation builds up in the tumor. Side effects can be minor or severe, depending on the size and location of the tumor, general medical condition, and the treatment applied. Two of the most common side effects can be irritation or damage to the skin near the treatment site and fatigue.
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