Stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) is also referred to as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR). It is an advanced technique used to treat small, well defined tumours or high risk postoperative areas. It can be used to treat both primary and metastatic (sometimes referred to as secondary tumours).
These are tumours that have spread from other organs in the body and cancers in the brain, spine, bones, liver and lung. The technology allows a high dose of radiation to be delivered to the tumour very precisely, without compromising surrounding healthy organs due to the ability to treat with sub millimetre accuracy. Due to the larger daily doses of radiation delivered to patients with stereotactic radiation therapy, treatments can be completed within a single treatment, or multiple treatments spanning over 2-10 days. Each daily treatment usually takes no longer than 20 minutes.