Radio Surgery at Sheba Medical Center

X Rays for Treatment of Tumors beneath the Skull

From the program 101 - Mind: When the unit for Radio surgery was established at  Sheba Medical Center, the method was new and not altogether accepted by conventional doctors in Israel and around the world. Today, after 10-12 years of experience, the method has been accepted around the world.

Radio surgery is an alternative to surgery which is what caused opposition in its time. Today it is very acceptable even in Israel (exactly a month ago, a similar unit was opened at Hadassah in Jerusalem). Dr. Spiegelman, a neurosurgeon, explains the reason for the distrust: In radio surgery, one has to wait to measure results. It takes a few weeks to see the decrease in the malignant growth, in a benign growth it takes longer.

Patients were receiving treatments as early as the 70s but only since 1987 have we been able to rely on results because only since then has the method been common enough to generate statistics.

During treatment of a brain tumor for example, the tumor isn't removed from the head. A focused beam of radiation is directed towards it via a special machine. The type of radiation used in radio surgery is ionizing X rays. The radiation is performed with the patient lying on a special bed. Within a few minutes, it kills the cells but this can only be observed in time as it takes the dead cells time to disappear. The patient is under close observation to ensure that the tumor doesn't grow and slowly begins to shrink.

Thanks to the special machine, it is possible to direct the radiation to very focused and precise areas. One third of patients treated have malignant growths.

The maximum sized tumor that can be treated in this way is 3 cm in diameter.

Aside from with very small children, treatment is performed without general anesthesia.