The Revolution of Robotic Stereotactic Radiotherapy (Robotic Radiosurgery) in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer, which was rare at the beginning of the 20th century, is now a major cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women. It is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in the world. With conventional radiation therapy, small doses of radiation are delivered on a daily Monday-to-Friday schedule over a period of approximately a month and a half. After receiving this therapy, some reversible side effects, such as local skin irritation, are common. Robotic stereotactic radiotherapy is based on the principle of delivering high doses of radiation to the tumor while sparing or avoiding the surrounding tissues, which has been one of the greatest limiting factors of conventional radiation therapy historically. Given the advancements in technology, the reproducibility of patient positioning and the capability to deliver radiation from hundreds of different directions while synchronizing respiration-induced target motion, this technology is now proposed as a new local treatment, completed in less than one week, with promising results.