100th SBRT Procedure > Florida Hospital Waterman

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy, or SBRT, is a treatment technique that delivers high doses of radiation with extreme accuracy to treat tumors in the lung, liver, kidney, and spine. The potent dose of radiation that is delivered by SBRT significantly increases the likelihood of eradicating the tumor when compared to conventional radiation therapy. SBRT’s accuracy allows physicians to minimize radiation dose to surrounding healthy tissue, reducing the chance of side effects for the patient.

Another advantage of SBRT is that patients usually complete their treatment in three to five sessions over a two week period, compared to six to eight weeks of daily conventional radiation therapy. According to radiation oncologist Jeffrey Brabham, M.D., “SBRT offers the dual benefits of improving tumor control rates while significantly decreasing treatment time. It is non-invasive and, when performed carefully, has a very favorable side effect profile.”

SBRT may be used as a non-invasive therapy for patients who are not healthy enough to undergo surgery to remove their tumor or in patients with recurrent tumors that were previously treated with radiation therapy.

“There is growing evidence that SBRT may be as or more effective than limited surgery in stage I lung cancers. For patients who are not healthy enough for surgery, SBRT is often an excellent alternative,” says Dr. Brabham. “Since initiating our SBRT program here in late 2009, we have treated over 100 patients and have been very proud of our results. I would confidently put our program and its results up for comparison with any other SBRT program in the nation.”

Florida Hospital Waterman Cancer Institute has the most experience of any facility in Lake County with this advanced treatment option. For more information, please call 352.253.3600.

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