Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was initially developed to treat benign lesions in the brain. However, it can sometimes be used for lesions in other parts of the body where it is called Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT).

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a non-surgical procedure that delivers accurately-targeted radiation at much higher doses to a precisely located small volume, whilst sparing healthy tissue organs nearby.

Stereotactic radiosurgery relies on several technologies:

• Three-dimensional imaging, such as CT, MRI and PET/CT is used to locate tumor or abnormality within the body and define its exact size and shape and determines the exact coordinates of the target within the body
• Frameless radiosurgery system to immobilize and carefully position the patient non invasively with sub-millimetric precision
• 3D treatment planning computer to create plan that makes beams of radiation converge on the target area from different angles and planes.
• Linear Accelerator that produces highly focused x-ray beams that converge on a tumor or abnormality.
• Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT),which uses medical imaging to confirm the location of a tumor immediately before or during the delivery of radiation to further improve the precision and accuracy of the treatment
• Robotic patient alignment allows precise patient setup in six degrees of freedom for accurate setup and automated patient positioning
• Short treatment time even for multiple lesions in the brain

Although stereotactic radiosurgery is often completed in a one-day session, physicians sometimes recommend multiple treatments, especially for larger tumors. The procedure is usually referred to as Fractionated Stereotactic Radiosurgery (FSRS) when two to five treatments are given. If patients require multiple treatments of more than 5 sessions, it is called Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT).

The multidisciplinary treatment team involved in these procedures comprises of specialized medical professionals including Clinical Oncologist, Neurosurgeon, Radiologist, Medical Physicist, Radiation Therapist and Oncology nurse. The multidisciplinary team at Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya is involved and successfully implemented SRS & SRT since 2002.