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Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a bit of a complex name for a common cancer treatment. And there are all types of SRS used to treat cancer as well as non-cancerous tumors.
Despite the name, SRS isn’t surgery. It’s a form of radiation therapy that treats tumors without any surgical incision. In fact, for many people, SRS is a safer, more effective treatment than open surgery. SRS delivers a single high dose of radiation to an extremely precise location to minimize exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), also known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), treats tumors with multiple (typically two to five) high-dose radiation treatments.
All types of radiation therapy kill cancer cells. But SRS offers several advantages:
Mercy offers the latest generation of SRS technology. Some locations use the True Beam system, which combines SRS and SBRT in one machine. Other locations offer SpaceOAR hydrogel, a soft, implanted, absorbable, protective gel spacer that, used along with SRS, reduces the side effects of prostate cancer treatment.
Your Mercy care team will make sure you understand what to expect before, during and after your SRS treatment. But here are a few things to know right now:
At any time in the process, don’t hesitate to talk to any of your Mercy caregivers about questions or concerns you might have. Remember, our goal is to provide you with the very best care and get you back to living your fullest life.
At Mercy, we offer comprehensive services to diagnose and treat a full range of conditions, including: