GUMC Logo A new study from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Hospital claims that treating a general brain tumor with numerous sessions of radiation seems to lead to less brain swelling as compared to treating the tumor once with a high dose of radiation.

Benign brain tumors called as meningiomas are said to be frequently treated with a solo, high dose of radiation via stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). At Georgetown, SRS is performed using CyberKnife. A single SRS treatment could result in tumor control. Nevertheless, post-treatment swelling i.e. edema is believed to be a regular and potentially grave complication.

Georgetown’s Christopher Lominska, MD, lead author of the study and chief resident in radiation medicine, commented, “Like the single dose, delivering lower doses of radiation in three, four or five CyberKnife sessions leads to good control. Three, four or five treatment sessions with the CyberKnife appear to result in a low edema rate equivalent to conventional radiation therapy which often involves 30 treatment sessions. That means SRS with CyberKnife allows good tumor control with fewer side-effects, and in less time than conventional therapy.”

For the study, experts supposedly assessed the records of about 81 patients treated at Georgetown from April 2002 to April 2008.

Lominska remarked, “Edema tended to occur less often in the patients who received multiple SRS treatments. Three, four or five treatment sessions with the CyberKnife appear to result in a low edema rate equivalent to conventional radiation therapy which often involves 30 treatment sessions.”

He further added that SRS with CyberKnife allows good tumor control with fewer side-effects, and in less time than conventional therapy.

This study was presented at the 51st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology in Chicago.