Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

This book serves as a practical guide for the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy in clinics. On the basis of more than 10 years of clinical experience with lung cancer, liver cancer, and other cancers, a remarkable volume of knowledge has been accumulated. At the same time, great progress in techniques has been achieved. Various new fixing apparatuses, new respiratory regulation techniques, new dose fractionation schedules, and new image-guided radiation therapy machines have been developed. This book reviews the history of those developments and reports on various types of toxicities. Review of recent clinical studies is also included. The authors were key members of the JCOG 0403 clinical trials on stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for both inoperable and operableT1N0M0 primary lung cancer. Readers will learn of the superior outcomes obtained with SBRT for lung cancer and other cancers in terms of local control and toxicities. With its practical focus, this book will benefit radiation oncologists, medical physicists, medical dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and senior nurses as well as medical oncologists and surgical oncologists who are interested in radiotherapy.