linear accelerator

laurie10

Has anyone heard of the newest treatment using what they call sbrt radiation? It is only given 5 times in large doses. It does not damage as much tissue as the conventional 6 week 5 day a week does. It gets a bead on the tumor and zaps it. They say it is a 85% control rate, what ever that means.

Glenna M

Similar treatment??
I'm not sure what the sbrt stands for but I had Stereotatic Radiosurgery for an inoperable tumor in my left lung. It is normally done in 4 or 5 treatments and I was only given 4. It is a much more targeted radiation that does not destroy good cells while it kills the cancer cells. The procedure is simple and painless, it can take them an hour to get everything positioned correctly but the treatment itself only takes a few minutes.

I went for my first scan in December and the radiologist said the tumor had shrunk and should continue to implode as the cancer cells that were killed during treatment continue to die off.

In my personal opinion an 85% control rate sounds pretty good.

Take care and please post again so we will all know how you are doing.

PS - just googled sbrt and found out it is the stereotatic treatment that I received. From my experience with this type of radiation I would gladly undergo more of the same treatments if it were necessary. As I said, it is painless and much easier to undergo than the traditional radiation. Good Luck!!

cookea

Glenna M said:

Similar treatment??
I'm not sure what the sbrt stands for but I had Stereotatic Radiosurgery for an inoperable tumor in my left lung. It is normally done in 4 or 5 treatments and I was only given 4. It is a much more targeted radiation that does not destroy good cells while it kills the cancer cells. The procedure is simple and painless, it can take them an hour to get everything positioned correctly but the treatment itself only takes a few minutes.

I went for my first scan in December and the radiologist said the tumor had shrunk and should continue to implode as the cancer cells that were killed during treatment continue to die off.

In my personal opinion an 85% control rate sounds pretty good.

Take care and please post again so we will all know how you are doing.

PS - just googled sbrt and found out it is the stereotatic treatment that I received. From my experience with this type of radiation I would gladly undergo more of the same treatments if it were necessary. As I said, it is painless and much easier to undergo than the traditional radiation. Good Luck!!

Side Effects???
Hi Glenna M
I read your post regarding the SBRT treatment you went through. My mother in law had surgery in 2006 for removal of the bottom left part of her lung. (around the time her first granddaughter was born) She then when through some chemo. Everything was fine until this past year. After a biopsy and seeing she had some spots on her right lung now too the doctors advise her to go through the SBRT treatment, instead of surgery again. (leaving that as a last option). During the biopsy and 2 times afterward her left lung collapsed. She begins the SBRT this week and has expressed some concerns. Most of which are of the effects to her lung and her breathing afterwards. Also the unknown of the effects afterward cause it is such a new treatment and there are no long term studies. Has there been any significant effects that you have noticed since you went through the treatment? And any suggestions for comfort for her or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Ive blessed her with 3 more granddaugthers over the past 5 years and we all want and need her around as long as possible. Thank you for your time.

Glenna M

cookea said:

Side Effects???
Hi Glenna M
I read your post regarding the SBRT treatment you went through. My mother in law had surgery in 2006 for removal of the bottom left part of her lung. (around the time her first granddaughter was born) She then when through some chemo. Everything was fine until this past year. After a biopsy and seeing she had some spots on her right lung now too the doctors advise her to go through the SBRT treatment, instead of surgery again. (leaving that as a last option). During the biopsy and 2 times afterward her left lung collapsed. She begins the SBRT this week and has expressed some concerns. Most of which are of the effects to her lung and her breathing afterwards. Also the unknown of the effects afterward cause it is such a new treatment and there are no long term studies. Has there been any significant effects that you have noticed since you went through the treatment? And any suggestions for comfort for her or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Ive blessed her with 3 more granddaugthers over the past 5 years and we all want and need her around as long as possible. Thank you for your time.

Cookea
The only side effect I had was the fatigue and was advised to try to walk for a few minutes each day and get outside and get at least 15 minutes of sun each day. I couldn't have surgery because of the location of my tumor but this treatment did not make my breathing any worse even though I also have emphysema. I had just completed chemo and traditional radiation for laryngeal cancer 3 weeks prior to receiving SBRT so I'm not sure how much of the fatigue was from the SBRT and how much was still from my previous treatments.

It is a very easy treatment to go through and I would do it again if necessary, it also takes less visits than the traditional radiation, 4 visits for me versus 35 of the traditional radiation for my larynx.

If you copy and paste the website address below it will take you to the University of Wisconsin's Health website which has a very informative piece on SBRT.

http://www.uwhealth.org/healthfacts/B_EXTRANET_HEALTH_INFORMATION-FlexMember-Show_Public_HFFY_1104449356605.html

I hope this helps ease some of your mother in laws concerns. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Stay well,
Glenna