UC Davis is the first location in Northern California outside the San Francisco Bay area to offer stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). SBRT is an emerging treatment for lung cancer in patients who are not candidates for surgery.

"Stereotactic" in Greek means "movement in space" and refers here to the way your radiation oncologist locates the tumor or target of a radiation dose by means of a three-dimensional coordinate system. A stereotactic method of surgery was first developed for brain surgery, but sophisticated technology now permits us to use similar techniques on the lungs, liver and spine. SBRT differs from conventional radiotherapy because it kills the tumor in a few potent doses while delivering little radiation to the surrounding healthy tissue.

Like stereotactic brain surgery or intracranial radiotherapy, performed here in the Department of Radiation Oncology using a Gamma Knife machine, SBRT involves patient immobilization and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). The technologically advanced imaging techniques that both predict tumor motion and guide the dose to the tumor site ensure safe and effective cancer treatment.

Your doctor may recommend SBRT to treat

• early stage non-small-cell lung tumors
• medically inoperable lung tumors
• liver tumors or
• spine tumors.