Stereotactic body radiation therapy or SBRT, developed in the last few years, has been among the top cancer treatment options...
Stereotactic body radiation therapy or SBRT, developed in the last few years, has been among the top cancer treatment options. Vinmec is one of the first hospitals applying the advanced technology in cancer treatment in Vietnam.
Advanced radiation technology
SBRT was pioneered in Sweden in 1951 when the methodology of stereotactic surgery was applied in the treatment of cranial neoplasms. The technology was then improved in the U.S.A, Japan and Europe, creating a breakthrough in cancer treatment with remarkable accomplishment. Nowadays, SBRT is known as a cancer treatment that delivers extremely precise, very intense doses of radiation to cancer cells.
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SBRT has proved to be a useful weapon in anticancer treatment without causing pain to patients. The radiation treatment lasts for 7 – 10 days instead of a few weeks as required by normal radiation therapies, helping patients recover sooner. SBRT has become a therapeutic option for various kinds of cancer such as early stage primary lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, bile duct, primary and metastatic liver, kidney, prostate and pelvis, sarcomas and metastatic cancer in the spine. Compared with normal radiation therapies, the success rate after 2 years of application is 30 - 40% while SBRT increases the 80 - 90% chance of being alive in additional two years.
Particularly, SBRT is an effective and well tolerated treatment for early stage non-small cell lung cancer with the efficiency up to 200% compared with traditional therapies. Patients have less experienced radiation pneumonitis caused by radiation therapy.
Vinmec healthcare system is one of the first hospitals in Vietnam equipped with U.S Varian accelerators known as the most modern in Southeast Asia so far. They include TrueBeam at Vinmec Central Park Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) and Clinax IX at Vinmec Times City Hospital (Hanoi). Many cancer patients have been successfully treated by SBRT and their health has recovered.
In spite of high efficiency, SBRT has not been widely applied in Vietnam. Reasons include that the standardized radiotherapy requires modern accelerators with high costs; modern imaging system to precisely target the tumor, even during respiratory movement; professional and competent human resources to accurately evaluate and designate SBRT and radiation treatment plan.
SBRT: Future radiation therapy
Reputable oncology organizations in the world such as American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) have recognized SBRT may be a substitute for cancer surgery for tumors less than 5cm. SBRT is even forecasted to be common and available in most of radiation treatment centers in the next few years.
Studies in the U.S.A, Japan and Europe show that SBRT can replace surgeries on early stage lung cancer or in liver Carcinoma (transarterial chemoembolization -TACE), increasing adaptation to radioimmunotherapy. Removing tumors without surgery risks, SBRT is highly recommended for the aged or patients at high risk during operation.
Modern radiation equipment and competent medical staff are the prerequisite for Vinmec's successful development of high-tech SBRT, VMAT, IMRT, SRS, etc. Thanks to the support from Pennsylvania University (USA), Vinmec is building the Center for Cardiology & Oncology to promote comprehensive expertise, scientific research, human resources and performance, meeting the world’s highest standards of treatment applied in the USA. With cancer multidisciplinary treatment together with updated advanced treatment methods, Vinmec has taken approach to cancer treatment success equivalent to that in developed countries in the region.
T.K
Translated by N.T
