Everything You Need To Know About SRS and SRT: Stereotactic RadioSurgery and RadioTherapy Treatment

What occurs in order to be ready for my treatments?

Before receiving therapy, you must undergo a CT scan and/or an MRI. A week before or a few days before your treatment, an MRI and/or CT scan could be performed.

To design your radiation therapy, the Radiology or Radiation Oncology Department will do another specialized CT scan on you. You must wear your mask for this CT scan.

What is the process of stereotactic radiation therapy?

Ultra-focused radiation is only applied to the tumor during stereotactic radiation treatment and radiosurgery. By either destroying the cells directly or by interfering with their capacity to develop, the therapy slows the growth of a tumor or aberrant cells.

SRS and SRT are extremely similar, although SRS administers a significant dosage of radiation in a single day whereas SRT administers therapy in fractions. This implies that a patient receiving SRT will get treatments across a number of days. Even though the overall dose in SRT may be more than in SRS, each day's dose administration will be substantially lower. Both, Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) and Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiation are used to treat localized cancers in the brain and, more recently, other body locations (SABR).

The patient must be positioned extremely precisely due to the enormous dosage provided in SRS and SRT. For each patient, a unique mask or position device is created at the time of the CT scan in order to achieve this. This makes it possible to position the patient precisely, allowing for sub-millimeter-scale radiation delivery.

What is the treatment?

A particular time will be given to you to arrive for your treatment.

As soon as you enter the radiation treatment room, the therapists will ask you to lie down on the treatment table.

You will be seated in your mask in order to prevent any head movement throughout the treatment. Your comfort will be enhanced by the therapists' use of knee pillows and blankets.

The treatment table will then be set up by the therapists so that the recommended therapy may be administered precisely. The setup is difficult. You must maintain extreme stillness.

The therapists will leave the space after everything is set up. A computer placed outside of your treatment room automates the procedure. You are always visible to and audible to the therapists. Through the intercom, you will be able to talk to them. If necessary, they are always free to enter the room and stop the therapy.

To assist you to move less, it's crucial to take the right medications if you're worried, coughing, or in pain.

During your treatment, you won't feel any radiation, although you could hear the accelerator functioning. While it is moving, the accelerator may be seen or heard, but it won't really touch you.

During your treatment, the therapists could occasionally enter the room to move the accelerator. You could feel the movement of the treatment table since the therapy is given from various angles.

About 10 minutes are spent on the actual therapy. You will spend between 30 to 60 minutes in the treatment room, during which time you will get therapy and be repositioned as necessary to guarantee the quality of the care.

You will be informed of the time for your subsequent treatment each day.