Gil Lederman on Sophisticated Radiation Treatment

Gil Lederman Enlightens on Brain Radiosurgery Patients often ask, "How is Radiosurgery Carried Out?" For each patient, our skilled staff constructs a custom-fitted, non-invasive head frame. This takes approximately one-half hour. The next step is imaging studies using the non-invasive head frame as a point of reference. Physicians and our talented physics department create a unique treatment plan for each patient, which is then re-confirmed and double and triple-checked by the physicians and physicists. Multiple quality assurance steps verify and re-verify each action - from head frame creation to imaging, planning, head frame placement and treatment. Because treatment is totally non-invasive, patients maintain their normal function throughout this process.

Patients are completely awake and alert throughout the entire painless, non-invasive, non-claustrophobic procedure. Furthermore with fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery there is, in general, the avoidance of hospitalization. It is for this reason and the strong voices from successfully treated patients that enthusiasm has been stimulated globally for the fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery approach at Radiosurgery New York.

Many times, previously treated patients are our most ardent supporters - passing on to friends and family a new treatment option. In the field of fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery, controlling a tumor means that the growth outlined and targeted for treatment stops growing, shrinks or disappears. This definition should not be unclear. Since stereotactic radiosurgery is so different from standard radiation, chemotherapy or surgery, a separate definition has been developed over the years. This definition means that the area - or tumor - that has been targeted will possibly cease to grow and that further treatment to that area will be unnecessary. The likelihood of local control is very high with stereotactic radiosurgery.

This number usually ranges from 80 to 90%, depending on the type of disease, volume and location. This high level of control usually remains for the rest of the patient's life in the targeted field. Of course, 80 or 90% is not 100% and failure can occur. Nothing is guaranteed in life - this we all know.

That is why we ask for follow-up scans on a regular basis. These scans can be performed sooner depending on the patient's needs and symptoms. Stereotactic radiosurgery is not for every patient. We decline to treat one-half of the potential patients who apply.

We believe, however, that for selected patients, there is great appeal. We have the ability to offer, when appropriate, more intense treatment locally, smaller fields of radiation (so healthy tissues receive lesser amounts of radiation), higher doses per fraction (means, in general, less treatments) with higher control rates. We are always looking for new angles to successfully attack brain tumors at Radiosurgery New York. Imagine a new world where brain tumors can be treated innovatively using non-invasive focused radiation to attack the benign or malignant tumor while decreasing the field of radiation to protect healthy, normal tissue.

It's a world where fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (FSR) avoids the invasiveness of surgery. Each treatment is outpatient and performed in about 30 minutes with no anesthesia, sedation, pins or cutting. Our new world of FSR is different compared to single fraction radiosurgery and open surgery. Imagine that our sophisticated fractionated stereotactic procedure takes place in a center whose doctors have experience with the evaluation and treatment of thousands of patients.

It's our doctors' data and experience that makes such a difference ? another one of our angles ? like the directed treatment we offer. Fractionation for standard radiation has been used for decades elsewhere in the body. Fractionation offers special appeal for stereotactic radiosurgery in the brain. It helps lessen adverse effects and yet has the potential to focus the radiation dose to selected tumors. Fractionation means accurate treatment using radiosurgery while avoiding the pain, the medications and hospitalization associated with the single-fraction pins-into-the-skull method. These should be some of the attributes that most seek when selecting treatment for benign or malignant tumors.

Also, results matter. Fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery represents the leading technologic edge for patients with benign and malignant brain tumors. Work pioneered by our physicians of Radiosurgery New York and presented at national and international medical meetings continues to show appeal compared to other methods of treatment. From the inception nearly 50 years ago and through continued improvement and refinement, stereotactic radiosurgery has succeeded in delivering radiation to tumors. Now it's offered in a non-invasive, fractionated manner. What is so different now is our experience.

We've performed tens of thousands of radiosurgeries. This article discusses the benefits in brief.

Please visit our before and after visual Body Radiosurgery gallery. For more information about non-invasive cancer treatment , please visit http://www.rsny.org/ or email Dr. Gil Lederman at Gil.Lederman@RSNY.ORG