Image-Guided Stereotactic Radiosurgery

This book provides the reader with a detailed update on the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with lesions of the brain and other parts of the body. The aim is not simply to explain the application of SRS and document its value with reference to the author's own clinical experiences and other published evidence, but also to contextualize the technology within a new strategic concept of cancer care. When embedded within an appropriate conceptual framework, technology becomes pivotal in changing therapeutic strategies. A new paradigm that is increasingly impacting on clinical practice is the oligometastatic state, on the basis that long-term survival might be achieved in patients with a low volume and number of metastatic lesions. This book accordingly addresses the value of SRS in patients with oligometastases of solid tumors to the brain, lung, spine, and liver. In addition, it examines the use of SRS in patients with diverse brain lesions, early-stage stage lung cancer, liver cancer, and early-stage prostate cancer. Readers will be persuaded that SRS, using cutting-edge imaging technologies to deliver precisely targeted radiation therapy, represents an exciting non-invasive procedure that holds great promise for the present and the future of cancer care.

Dr Harun Badakhshi is Chief Physician and chairman of clinical radiation oncology at Ernst von Bergmann Medical Center, an academic teaching hospital of Humboldt University Berlin. He also serves as senior lecturer / assoc. professor at Charité School of Medicine Humboldt University Berlin, and is holding various functions in regional and European organizations and societies that are related to cancer research and education. He has previously worked as vice chairman of radiation oncology at University Hospital Charité.

His research interest is primarily in neurooncology, lung and breast cancer, and metastases research. A focus of his research lies, especially, in studying effects of image-guided high precision radiotherapy for benign and malignant tumors, as well in investigations about curative potentials for cancer with oligometastases.

He has published about 50 original peer-reviewed research papers to date and many reviews on different aspects of medicine, including prevention, education, health economics. He serves as a reviewer for more than 10 specialized journals, and as an appraiser for regional medical organizations and physician chamber.