Affordable Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Pituitary Tumors

Stereotactic Radiosurgery or SRS in short, utilizes several precisely focused beams of radiation for treating tumors & other problems of the brain, neck & other areas of the body. However, this is not a surgical intervention in the traditional sense because it involves no incisions. Instead, stereotactic radiosurgery utilizes 3D imaging techniques in order to target high doses of radiation to affected areas including pituitary tumors, with minimal impact upon the surrounding healthy tissues. Like many other forms of radiation therapies, stereotactic radiosurgery also works by damaging DNA of targeted cells following which affected cells will lose their ability to reproduce & will subsequently cause the tumor to shrink in size. Stereotactic radiosurgery of brain & spine is typically completed within a single session. When doctors utilize stereotactic radiosurgery for treatment of tumors located in areas of the body other than brain, it is known as Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) or Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SRBT).

Types of Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Radiologists utilize 3 types of technology for delivering radiation during stereotactic radiosurgery.

• Linear Accelerator (LINAC) – These are machines which use photon x-rays as treatment for benign & malignant abnormalities located within the brain & in other parts of the body. LINAC machines are also known as XKnife, TrueBeam, Novalix Tx, Axesse & CyberKnife. These machines are designed to perform SRS in single session or over 3 – 5 sessions for large sized brain tumors & which is known as fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy in medical terms.
• Gamma Knife – This is a machine which utilizes 192 or 201 small beams of gamma rays in order to target & treat benign & malignant brain tumor abnormalities. However, Gamma Knife machines are far less common than LINAC & are primarily used in treatment of small to medium tumors & lesions located in brain & which are associated with a variety of conditions.
• Proton Beam – This is a charged particle radiosurgery procedure & which is a new type of stereotactic radiosurgery which is only available in a handful of research centers across the world. This is very helpful in treating brain cancers using a single session of stereotactic radiosurgery or for treating body tumors lasting over several sessions through fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Pituitary Tumor Treatment

Originally pioneered in the 1950s, stereotactic radiosurgery is lesser invasive & a safer alternative to standard pituitary tumor surgery (neurosurgery) which requires large incisions in skin, skull & in membranes which surround the brain & brain tissue. Ever since then SRS has widely expanded to treat a wide spectrum of other neurological conditions including brain tumors & pituitary tumor treatments.

• Brain Tumor Treatments – SRS, like Gamma Knife is often used to treat cancerous & noncancerous brain tumors like craniopharyngioma, hemangioblastoma, chondrosarcoma, chordoma, glioblastoma, anplastic astrocytoma, glioma & meningioma. Moreover, SRS is also used in treatment of secondary cancers which have spread to brain from other areas of the body.

• Pituitary Tumor Surgery – Pituitary tumors which are based at the base of brain can cause a variety of problems. Pituitary gland is important as it controls hormone secretions which in turn control various functions like metabolism, stress response, growth & sexual function. SRS can be ideally used in place of traditional