Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: A Review of Applications and Outcomes

Abstract

Radiotherapy is a versatile tool used in the treatment of various types of benign and malignant neoplasms. However, conventional radiation therapy for cancerous conditions often results in collateral damage to healthy tissues due to involvement of oversized radiation fields. Over the last decade one type of precision based radiation treatment has developed. This new treatment, known as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), involves highly accurate beams of high-energy radiation that are used to destroy abnormal cells by permanently damaging their DNA. As technology progressed stereotactic cranial radiosurgery developed into a successful method for certain tumorous conditions of the head and skull. The success of stereotactic cranial radiosurgery led to further radiation application research to widen the spectrum of treatable conditions to include those located extracranially. The result of this continued research led to the development of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), a radiotherapy technique based upon principles of SRS that is used to treat small or moderate sized tumors of the body with a limited number of treatments. Stereotactic body radiation therapy combines the use of the latest tumor imaging technology as well as precision based radiation delivery mechanisms to overcome physiological barriers of normal radiation therapy such as movement of tumors in tissues. The net effect of SBRT is that a dose of radiation much larger than normal can be administered in a very precise manner, over smaller time frame, bringing about a dramatic tumor response. In this review the authors will attempt to briefly cover the subject of stereotactic body radiation therapy as well as its applications and effectiveness.