SRS Goes Where Surgery Cannot

When Helen Thornburg was treated for lung cancer six years ago, she went through a demanding combination of surgery and chemotherapy, which was well worth it—her cancer went into remission

However, last fall, “excruciating pain” in her back needed immediate attention from her doctor. “It felt as if a cinder block was lying on me,” she describes. At The Cancer Institute at St. Joseph, a CT scan revealed a malignant tumor. Dr. Ziv Gamliel, St. Joseph’s chief of Thoracic Surgery, and a multidisciplinary team of cancer experts, determined her tumor was inoperable —but not untreatable—and created a treatment plan.

Following five sessions of stereotatic radiosurgery (SRS), a highly advanced weapon against cancer, she was pain-free, and her tumor virtually disappeared.

SRS uses pinpoint precision to aim laser beams of radiation at cancer cells, while avoiding normal healthy cells. Patients simply lie down on a platform under the SRS machine for ten to 15 minutes.

Knifeless Surgery

“SRS is completely noninvasive, with no need for anesthesia,”  says Dr. Stephen Ronson, SRS director at St. Joseph’s Cancer Institute. “This technology is nicknamed knifeless surgery —whether it’s called Cyberknife, Gamma Knife, Trilogy or SRS, it delivers  high radiation doses to the concentrated area of the tumor.” Radiation is emitted through a linear accelerator—a high-tech machine with thin, metal, sliding panels that direct the beam.

St. Joseph’s SRS has “specialized gating capability that manipulates the radiation to the tumor in sync to the patient’s breathing,” says Dr. Mark Krasna, medical director of The Cancer Institute.  This helps target lung tumors as well as liver tumors near the rib cage.

Brain, Lung, Liver & Spine

“SRS is a new standard of care for numerous types of inoperable cancer— including lung, liver and bone,” remarks Dr. Jason Citron, head of Radiation Oncology at St. Joseph. He and Dr. Neal Naff, chief of Neurosurgery at St. Joseph, have treated many inoperable brain cancer patients with SRS.

At St. Joseph, radiation oncologists are working in partnership with orthopaedic specialists to use SRS for tumors of the spine. Patients may receive SRS plus orthopaedic surgery, or benefit from SRS alone. “We can shape high doses of radiation to bend around the spinal cord and other critical organs,” says Dr. Ronson. Bone cancer patients benefit from longer periods of local tumor control and symptom relief, giving them comfort and hope.