Stereotactic irradiation of lung tumors

Stereotactic irradiation of lung tumors is a relatively new technique aiming at increased applicable radiation doses by a reduction of normal tissue involvement. As a result of adequate patient immobilization, threedimensional treatment planning and highly precise target point definition, the safety margins generally used in conventional radiotherapy can be reduced significantly. Increased fraction doses, which have an amplified biological effect, can be used and lead to a shortening of the overall treatment time. Especially for localized early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer the achieved dose escalation is proven to correlate with an increased local tumor control. But also the utilization for the therapy of lung metastases of solid tumors is possible. In spite of small patient cohorts and limited long-term data compared to conventional radiotherapy the results are promising. (orig.)