Liver Lesions
The CyberKnife® Radiosurgery Solution
Liver Metastases
Stereotactic radiotherapy/radiosurgery allows a substantial radiation dose escalation to liver metastases, translating to a radiation biologic potency greater than double that of conventional radiation therapy approaches (22, 23). This brings a new nonsurgical liver tumor ablation method that is more precise and powerful than traditional radiotherapy, and less invasive than resection, radiofrequency ablation or cryosurgery.
The unique CyberKnife® dose sculpting and target tracking attributes (Synchrony™) make it a particularly attractive option for the treatment of liver metastatic lesions. As the only radiation delivery system that tracks respiratory tumor movement with 1.5 mm accuracy, the CyberKnife® is uniquely capable of delivering an ablative radiation dose to liver metastases, with the sharpest margin possible, allowing the maximum possible sparing of adjacent normal hepatic parynchema and upper GI organs.
The efficacy of CyberKnife® radiosurgery relative to metastatic resection or other ablative approaches such as cryosurgery or radiofrequency ablation is appropriately studied in prospective comparative clinical trials. Meanwhile, it is reasonably applied to patients with liver metastases who are not surgical candidates, or to those who refuse surgery or other invasive treatment methods.
Written by Donald B. Fuller, M.D. – Radiation Oncologist