Cancer in vital and critical body parts – like brain, heart, lungs, pancreas, colon, prostate, etc. – requires utmost precaution. The peculiarity of the tumor cells – their spread, severity, size, and location – makes many of them impossible to be surgically removed.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy is a radiotherapy/radiosurgery procedure designed to deliver highly concentrated radiation doses at precise target points in the body to contain the tumor.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy vs stereotactic radiosurgery is a misnomer. Stereotactic body radiotherapy is remarkably similar to stereotactic radiosurgery. The latter is chiefly used for treating cancers in the brain, while stereotactic body radiation therapy is used to treat pancreatic cancer and cancers of other critical body parts.
In stereotactic body radiotherapy, multiple, finely aligned beams deliver a high dose of radiation to a small region in the body. Oncologists use 3D mapping to pinpoint the tumor’s location and target multiple beams with high doses of radiation on it. Individually each beam causes little to no harm to the surrounding healthy cells. But on collision at the target, an exceedingly high dose of radiation is delivered. The tumor cells are cut off from the blood supply and start shrinking.
SBRT can be used to treat multiple types of cancer present in vital body parts (other than the brain):
Trained doctors may use either of the two technologies to deliver radiation in SBRT:
The 3D mapping helps focus multiple beams of radiation on a tumor amid the movement of the body.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy has many benefits for cancer patients:
Being a high radiation treatment, SBRT may cause side effects that depend on the region, dosage, and the length of the treatment.
Yashoda Hospitals is one of the handfuls of hospitals in the country that offer the best SBRT treatment. The radio-oncology department at Yashoda Cancer Institute has many trained experts who have experience deploying SBRT treatment successfully. Doctors’ skills are complemented by state-of-the-art technology for diagnostics and imaging studies, ICUs, and other world-class facilities.