Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) delivers a very high, precisely aimed dose of radiation to a small target in one to five treatments. It is used for small lung cancers in people who cannot have surgery and, in mesothelioma, for limited areas of recurrence or single spots of growth.
Origin
Stereotactic radiation began with brain radiosurgery, developed in Sweden by Lars Leksell starting in the 1950s. Swedish and Japanese groups adapted it to the body in the 1990s, and SBRT for early lung cancer came into wide use in the 2000s.
Significance in Asbestos Context
Because the dose is so concentrated, SBRT needs exact imaging, careful positioning and techniques to allow for breathing motion. For early-stage lung cancer, including asbestos-related lung cancer, it offers high rates of local control for patients too frail for surgery, some of whom have asbestosis or emphysema that limits lung function. Mesothelioma usually spreads as a sheet along the pleura, which does not suit SBRT, but it can treat a limited recurrence, a chest wall nodule or a single growing spot while other treatment continues, an approach sometimes described as treating oligoprogression. The evidence for this use in mesothelioma comes mostly from small studies. Side effects depend on location: chest wall pain or rib fracture near the ribs, and pneumonitis in the lung. A team that treats mesothelioma regularly can say whether a recurrence is suitable.
Example Sentence
When a single nodule grew in his chest wall while the rest of his mesothelioma stayed stable, his team treated it with three sessions of SBRT and continued his immunotherapy.
Related Terms
Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Proton Therapy, Disease Progression, Lung Cancer, Surgical Candidacy, Pneumonitis, Tumor Board
Notes
- Ask whether SBRT is meant to cure, to control a single spot, or to relieve symptoms.
- Ask whether your case has been discussed at a tumor board that includes radiation oncology.
- Report new chest wall pain or cough in the months after treatment.
In the research library
7 studies in our medical research library mention Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) in the title or abstract. Among the most cited:
- Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) as Salvage Therapy for Oligorecurrent Pleural Mesothelioma After Multi-Modality TherapyC. Schröder, I. Opitz, M. Guckenberger, et al, 2019 · Frontiers in Oncology · cited 16 times
- Clinical outcomes of stereotactic body radiation therapy for malignant pleural mesotheliomaJ.Y. Shin, M. Offin, C.B. Simone, et al, 2024 · Radiotherapy and Oncology · cited 11 times
- Managing oligoprogressive malignant pleural mesothelioma with stereotactic body radiation therapyA.R. Barsky, N. Yegya-Raman, S.I. Katz, et al, 2021 · Lung Cancer · cited 8 times
- A Phase 1 Safety Study of Avelumab Plus Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Malignant Pleural MesotheliomaA. Rimner, P.S. Adusumilli, M.D. Offin, et al, 2023 · JTO Clinical and Research Reports · cited 6 times
- A reply to "managing oligoprogressive malignant pleural mesothelioma with stereotactic body radiation therapy"G.L. Ceresoli, P. Ghirardelli, D. Franceschini, et al, 2021 · Lung Cancer · cited 3 times
The journals that publish most on it: Lung Cancer (2), Oncology Letters (1), Frontiers in Oncology (1).
Category: Treatments & Therapies · All Lexicon terms A–Z
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