RadioSurgery Treatments: New Capabilities Ahead

The Radiation Oncology Center is in the process of installing new equipment for the purpose of delivering radiosurgery treatment for patients in need. Installation, calibration and testing are scheduled to occur through early next year.

Radiosurgery is a technique that precisely delivers large doses of radiation to tumors and other abnormalities in a single treatment or in a small number of treatments (typically up to five). The goal of this non-invasive procedure is to eradicate the target anatomy without harming nearby healthy tissue and without involving traditional surgery.

Radiosurgery was first used to treat targets in the brain and it has now been extended to extracranial targets such as the spine and other organs. Recent studies have suggested radiosurgery is effectively controlling certain types of cancer. The clinical targets for radiosurgery must be relatively small and well defined. High-resolution 3-dimensional imaging techniques such as CT and MRI help identify and clinically define these targets and the critical structures surrounding them.

Occasionally, a small number of targets are treated simultaneously.  Most treatment courses involving radiosurgery are generally completed within the same week.

If you have questions or would like to learn more about this new advanced technique, please contact Dr. Jason Citron, medical director of the Radiation Oncology Center, 410-427-2525.