Stereotactic radiotherapy for lung cancer

What is stereotactic radiotherapy for lung cancer?

Stereotactic radiotherapy is a very precise type of external radiotherapy. It is often used to treat early-stage cancer. 

During this treatment, the radiotherapy beams are aimed at your tumour from many different points. 

Only a small area is targeted with a high dose of radiotherapy. This means that less of your healthy tissue is exposed to radiation, so there may be fewer side-effects than with the standard type of radiotherapy. 

Stereotactic radiotherapy does not make you radioactive. It is safe to be around people, including pregnant women and children

Planning your treatment

CT scan

Planning for stereotactic radiotherapy usually takes 1-2 hours. A radiation therapist uses a CT scanner to work out how to shape the radiotherapy beam so it fits your tumour exactly. As you breathe in and out the tumour will move too. This is called tumour motion. 

The radiation therapist will monitor your breathing before and during the CT scan with specialist equipment that can track the rise and fall of your chest and the tumour motion as you breathe. This is called 4-dimensional CT scanning.

It is very important that you are comfortable and in the same position for each treatment. The radiation therapist will work with you to decide on the best position for you.

Having your treatment

You will normally have 3-8 treatments, depending on where the tumour is. Each session will last about an hour. You will not feel anything during your treatment but may hear a beeping sound. Your radiation therapist will watch you on a screen and talk to you through an intercom.