Stereotactic Radiosurgery treats brain disorders with a precise delivery of a high dose of radiation in one to five sessions. Focused radiation beams are delivered to a specific area of the brain to treat abnormalities, tumors or functional disorders.
Stereotactic radiosurgery works on tumors the same as all other forms of radiation treatment. It does not remove the tumor or lesion, but it distorts the DNA of the tumor cells. The cells then lose their ability to reproduce and retain fluids. The tumor reduction occurs at the rate of normal growth for the specific tumor cell. In lesions such as AVMs radiosurgery causes the blood vessels to thicken and close off. The shrinking of a tumor or closing off of a vessel occurs over a period of time. For benign tumors and vessels, this will usually be 18 months to two years. For malignant or metastatic tumors, results may be seen in a few months, because these cells are very fast-growing. |
