Wednesday, June 27, 2018

SBRT

World Hematology 2018 is back with a new information about SBRT which means Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy. A stereotactic radiation treatment for the body is that a specially designed coordinate-system is used for the exact localization of the tumors in the body in order to treat it with limited but highly precise treatment fields where it involves the delivery of a single high dose radiation treatment or a few fractionated radiation treatments (up to 5 treatments, generally). A high potent biological dose of radiation is delivered to the tumor, improving the cure rates for the tumor which is generally not achieved  by standard conventional radiation therapy. SBRT has shown better outcomes than conventional radiation therapy. 

SBRT Working: Planning begins with diagnostic imaging to help locate the tumor which includes four-dimensional imaging, that maps the target area as it moves over time with the patient’s breathing cycle. In the only invasive part of the treatment, gold seeds, called fiducials, are sometimes implanted into the tumor before images are taken. This is because the fiducials are visible in planning scans which can be used by the physicians to ensure if high-dose radiation is accurately overlying the tumor, at the time of treatment. Radiation oncologists work with medical physicists to develop a radiation plan that ensures safe exposure to normal structures. Each of the treatment sessions takes 30 to 60 minutes unlike with more invasive therapies, patient leaves each treatment free of significant pain or side effects. Treatments do not have to be administered on consecutive days, but the entire course of therapy is usually concluded within 10 days.

Since Stereotactic radiotherapy targets the tumour very precisely, the risk of damage to normal surrounding tissues is low. Therefore the side effects may be less than with other types of radiotherapy. 
Source: http://radonc.ucla.edu/sbrt

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