kaychloe23 Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Does anyone have any information on Radiosurgery (Fractionated Stereotactice Radiosurgery)? Is it the same thing as Radio Frequency? How new is it? Is is considered a clinical trial? My Father can not do radiation because his lungs are in bad shape. His oncologist said Chemo is his only option to possibly shrink cancer cells and then maybe radiation in the future. I was hoping Radiosurgery might be another option for him. Thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Radiation is different than radio frequency ablation (RFA). With RFA a probe is actual inserted into the tumor and then heated with using radio frequencies. RFA can only be used when there are a few tumors and they are not diffuse. RFA uses radio frequencies. Radiation uses gamma, x-rays or electron beams. Radiation comes in many forms. IMRT, whole body stereotactic, internal radiation (), external radiation and probably more. With internal some sort of carrier is used to take the radiation directly to the tumor. For example, some tumor cells have receptors on the surface of their cell. By using a molecule that attaches to the cell (kind of like a key / lock) and loading the molecule with radiation, the radiation is delivered directly to the tumor cells. Radiation is used only for local control, with the exception of whole body stereotactic radiation. Multiple tumors sometimes can be treated with radiation. Generally, radiation is either delivered to a large part of the body, or directed toward only the tumor. The kind of radiation depends upon the tumor. For example, if the brain has just one detected lesion. Then a Dr may use a very directed beam. However, if there is evidence that the tumor is spread throughout ie diffuse, then whole brain radiation may be used. http://www.varian.com/pti/rdt052.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natalie Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Hey Kay- My mom got accepted into the Radiofrequency Ablation(RFA) trial today for the lungs! She has a shaded area that is 5 x 3 cm in the upper left lobe and they said she is a perfect candidate. It's a trial, but not like the typical trial. It's a proven trial...it will explain in the article I'm going to post from the Sacramento Bee. I also have a posting with a website from Sutter Cancer Center about it under the category "New Treatments" and it's being conducted in various areas around the states. The head of the trial told me that it is non invasive and developed for people that are not candidates for surgery. It will take a while to get my mom started in the trial (have to fight with the insurance company) so I asked the head of the trial if my mom should continue with her chemo plans in the meantime. She said, "absolutely", but then I responded "but won't it make her too weak for the RFA? Don't you have to wait until the patient is strong enough to continue with the procedure?" She said, "no, it's made for people that can't do regular surgery because they are too weak, or advanced stage, etc. The procedure is an hour and a half and then recovery is about a day. They claim that people can conduct normally very soon after. A lady even went and got her nails and hair done the next day and went golfing three days later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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