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Radiosurgery Procedures
Radiosurgery is a radiation delivery procedure that precisely deliver large radiation doses to tumors and other relevant anatomical targets in a single session or in a small fraction of sessions (typically up to five). The goal of this non-invasive procedure is to destroy, or make inactive, the target anatomy without harming nearby healthy tissue and without involving traditional surgery.
Historically, radiosurgery began by treating targets in the brain and has now extended to targets in the spine and other extracranial organs. Recent studies have suggested this strategy can be more effective at killing or controlling certain types of cancer.
The clinical targets for radiosurgery are relatively small and well defined. High-resolution 3D imaging techniques such as CT and MRI help identify and clinically define these targets and the critical structures surrounding them. Sometimes a small number of targets are treated simultaneously. As they involve a small number of fractions of radiation—hypofractionation—radiosurgical procedures are generally completed within the same week.
Radiosurgery with the Novalis Tx™ radiosurgery platform is typically performed in 30 minutes or less. Recent advances in treatment delivery with Varian RapidArc has the promise to allow a single 6 Gy fraction to be performed in six minutes. These treatment times compare with other systems where treatment may take hours for a single fraction. Shorter treatment times increase patient comfort and minimize patient motion. This makes compensating for movement easier, and can result in more precise treatments being performed.
Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery
External beam radiotherapy, often simply referred to as radiotherapy, is a radiation delivery procedure involving ~30 fractions of low dose high-energy radiation. Usually administered over a period of six weeks, its goal is tumor control or disease palliation. Radiotherapy operates under the radiobiological assumptions of the "Four Rs": reoxygenation, reassortment, repopulation, and repair. Radiotherapy is typically used for larger tumors, a larger number of tumors, for end-stage disease tumors in combination with chemotherapy, and for systemic diseases such as blood-borne cancers.
Radiotherapy contrasts with radiosurgical techniques, which are used for one or a small number of highly definable tumors treated with a small number of fractions - typically 5 or fewer, in under a week.
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Varian Radiosurgery
Tel: 1.650.424.5700
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Events
- 02/02/2012 - 20/04/2012
ASCO -2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium - 02/08/2012
Emerging Technologies Clinical Forum - 02/09/2012 - 02/10/2012
Bard User Meeting - International - 02/11/2012 - 02/12/2012
Singapore Radiological Society 21st ASM - 02/21/2012 - 02/23/2012
HIMSS 2012 - 02/22/2012 - 02/24/2012
ACI- Planning, Building & Operating Successful Proton Therpay Center - 02/22/2012 - 02/25/2012
RSS - The Radiosurgery Society
