Physicians and physicists within the Department of Radiation Oncology are recognized worldwide as leaders in the use of stereotactic therapies. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), a relatively new treatment that has evolved out of the stereotactic treatment of cranial tumors, is a particularly robust specialty of our radiation oncology team. Medical professionals across North America attend a quarterly SBRT program offered by the department to gain proficiency in this treatment mode. Our professionals also work closely with physicians in the Department of Neurosurgery to treat patients at the Annette Simmons Stereotactic Treatment Center at University Hospital–Zale Lipshy, which houses the medical center’s Gamma Knife and CyberKnife.

Our advanced stereotactic technologies and therapies include the following:

 CyberKnife: Image-Guided Robotic Radiosurgery

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a noninvasive treatment in which high dose radiation beams enter the body through various angles and intersect at the desired target. This allows for a concentrated dose to reach the tumor while limiting the dose to surrounding healthy tissues. The CyberKnife uses a linear accelerator mounted on a robotic arm to focus multiple beams of radiation into the tumor.

Currently, the CyberKnife is used to treat both primary and metastatic brain tumors. It can also be used to treat other tumors of the head and neck, base of skull, spine, lung, pancreas, liver, and prostate. At the Annette Simmons Stereotactic Treatment Center, both radiosurgery and radiotherapy with CyberKnife are performed on an outpatient basis.

 Gamma Knife: Precise, Noninvasive Brain Surgery

Also housed at the Annette Simmons Stereotactic Treatment Center is the Gamma Knife. Contrary to what the name implies, it is not really a knife at all. Instead, the Gamma Knife uses beams of highly focused gamma rays to treat tumors or other abnormalities in the brain.

The Gamma Knife is used primarily to treat brain tumors and a condition known as arteriovenous malformations (an abnormal connection between the arteries and veins), as well as functional problems such as trigeminal neuralgia. For this single-day, outpatient procedure, the patient is fitted with a head frame for immobilization. Pins designed specifically for the frame fasten the head frame to the skull. The head frame is also a guide for directing the beams to the desired location.

 Synergy-S

The Department of Radiation Oncology is one of the leading facilities in the world for treatment of tumors in the body using SBRT. At our main clinic in the Moncrief Radiation Oncology Building, stereotactic radiosurgery is performed using the Elekta Synergy-S linear accelerator.

 Vero

UT Southwestern Medical Center will be the first institution in North America to install Vero, an advanced system for delivering noninvasive radiation treatment to cancer patients.

In partnership with Brainlab AG of Germany, the Vero device will be installed on the UT Southwestern campus in early 2011 at a new facility currently under construction. The first patients to be treated with the device could be seen as early as this summer.

The Vero system integrates many state-of-the-art radiation therapy capabilities into one machine and is designed to locate tumors and meticulously direct radiation precisely where it is needed. The Vero machine also incorporates several different types of imaging technologies, including x-ray, CT, and fluoroscopy, which allow clinicians to locate and track tumors, even when the patient’s body moves. Unique to the Vero is an oscillating linear accelerator head that can move in two directions.