New frontiers in radiosurgery for the brain and body

Cole A. Giller, MD, PhD, and Brian D. Berger, MD

Radiosurgery is defined as the use of highly focused beams of radiation to ablate a pathologic target, thus achieving a surgical objective by noninvasive means. Recent advances have allowed a wide variety of intracranial lesions to be effectively treated with radiosurgery, and radiosurgical treatment has been accepted as a standard part of the neurosurgical armamentarium. The advent of frameless radiosurgery now permits radiosurgical treatment to all parts of the body and is being actively explored by many centers. This article reviews some of the modern tools for radiosurgical treatment and discusses the current clinical practice of radiosurgery.