Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery is a medical procedure that has been used to treat patients with brain tumors or other kinds of cancer, including prostate cancer. The procedure allows non-invasive brain surgery, i.e., without actually opening the skull, by means of directed beams of ionizing radiation.
Radiosurgery is indicated primarily for the therapy of tumors, vascular lesions and functional disorders. Significant clinical judgment must be used with this technique and considerations must include lesion type, pathology if available, size, location and age and general health of the patient. General contraindications to radiosurgery include excessively large size of the target lesion or lesions too numerous for practical treatment.
The non-interference with the quality of life of the patient in the post-operatory period competes with the inconvenience of the latency of months until the result of the radiosurgery is accomplished. Patients with a bad general state of health and those with tumors which are unreachable by conventional means, are especially helped.
The outcome of radiosurgery may not be evident for months after the treatment. Since radiosurgery does not remove the tumor, but results in a biological inactivation of the tumor, lack of growth of the lesion is normally considered to be treatment success.
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