Intra-Operative Radiation Therapy (IORT) People with localized tumors that can't be completely removed or have a high risk for a local recurrence—carcinoma of the pancreas, for example—may be candidates for IORT, a treatment carried out during surgery. The surgeon localizes the organ containing your tumor and removes as much of the tumor as possible. He or she then moves the normal tissue out of the path of the radiation beam. Radiation equipment may then be brought into the operating room or you may be wheeled to a radiation department. A treatment cone connected to a Linear Accelerator is placed directly over the tumor, which is then treated with a single high dose. Normal tissues are spared since they are outside of the beam.
Stereotactic (Stereotaxic) Radiosurgery This was introduced in the 1950s by Dr. Lars Leksell of Sweden who found that he could treat deep-seated blood vessel malformations within the brain by using a number of cobalt sources. This is sometimes called a gamma knife.
If you are receiving this treatment, your head will be placed in a special frame that helps to maintain alignment and localize the treatment volume. With the frame in place, you will have a CT or MRI scan or an angiogram study. Technical information from the scan is then fed into a treatment-planning computer and a dose distribution is calculated for the Linear Accelerator. You will then be transported to the Linear Accelerator, which will direct high doses of radiation from specific angles outside your head so that they converge on the target area. Surrounding tissues are for the most part spared.
