Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) is a noninvasive procedure that delivers high doses of radiation to specific targets in the body.  This innovative approach has allowed our field to cure many tumors without surgery and with minimal number of treatment days. By focusing large doses of radiation on the tumor, we can increase our chances of eradicating the tumors while minimizing dose to adjacent critical organs.

At UVA, we are utilizing SBRT to treat cancers of the lung, liver, pancreas, and prostate.  We are also utilizing this technique to target limited metastatic disease throughout the body in certain situations. SBRT is often delivered in 1-5 fractions, and it can be delivered utilizing a variety of techniques, including both with a traditional linear accelerator and with an MRI linac.

Innovative Applications at UVA
UVA has long been a social safety net hospital drawing patients from good distances away from our hospital, so we have a long history of treating with ablative doses of radiation over a short amount of time.  Most recently, we have installed an MRI linac, which will allow us to provide real time adaptive planning for difficult treatment locations.  We have current clinical trials for SBRT to the lung, prostate and pancreas.  Read more about some of the innovative research being done at UVA with SBRT.

Publications

• STAT RT: a prospective pilot clinical trial of Scan-Plan-QA-Treat stereotactic body radiation therapy for painful osseous metastases

• Helical tomotherapy-based STAT stereotactic body radiation therapy: Dosimetric evaluation for a real-time SBRT treatment planning and delivery program

• Local control of 1-5 fraction radiotherapy regimens for spinal metastases: an analysis of the impacts of biologically effective dose and primary histology

• Recursive Partitioning Analysis for Local Control Achieved With Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for the Liver, Spine, or Lymph Nodes

• A single-institutional experience with low dose stereotactic body radiation therapy for liver metastases

• Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Salvage Treatment of Recurrent Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

• Clinical Outcomes and Predictors of Lung Toxicity After Multiple Courses of Lung Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer