Purpose: A feasibility study addressing the role of a new miniature x-ray device, the Photon Radiosurgery System (PRS), for interstitial radiosurgical treatment of intracranial metastatic neoplasms, was conducted at our institution. To gain insight into the role of PRS vis-à-vis other currently available radiosurgical treatment modalities, dosimetric comparisons of Linac Radiosurgery and proton beam therapy were performed in the treatment of a small approximately spherical metastasis.
Methods and materials: The photon radiosurgery system is a miniature, battery operated, high-voltage x-ray generator that produces low-energy x-rays with an effective energy of 10-20 keV emanating from the tip of a probe stereotactically inserted into small tumors (< 3 cm in diameter) in humans. Patients, 18 years or older, with supratentorial mass lesions less than 3 cm in diameter were eligible if they were likely to survive their systemic cancer and be capable of self-care for more than 4 months. Patients were ineligible if presenting with infratentorial lesions, contraindications for biopsy, or receipt of chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks were ineligible.
Results: Fourteen patients with metastatic supratentorial lesions were treated from December 1992 to December 1993 for metastatic tumors to the brain. Single doses of 10-20 Gy were delivered to spherical targets of 10 to 35 mm in diameter. Treatment, including biopsy, pathologic review and radiation treatment, generally took less than 3 h. One patient, later found to have an ischemic stroke, developed a small hemorrhage from the biopsy that preceded interstitial irradiation. There were no other complications. Median survival was 10 months. Three locally recurrent lesions failed at 3.5, 4, and 10 months after treatment. All patients had stable or improved Karnofsky status for 2 weeks to 21 months after treatment. The PRS dosimetry appears at least as good as that obtained using 6 MV Linac or 160 MeV protons. Analyses of dose-volume histograms comparing the volumes of normal CNS tissue irradiated employing each of the respective modalities suggest a small sparing of normal tissue with PRS, as opposed to linac or protons, in this patient population with small, approximately spherical tumors.
Conclusions: The PRS device provides a unique cost and time efficient procedure for providing interstitial radiation therapy immediately following histologic confirmation of malignancy in patients undergoing biopsy of intracranial lesions. The PRS treatment appears safe, and preliminary data suggest no evidence of treatment-related morbidity within the life span of the selected patient population. When treating small, spherical lesions, PRS appears to offer a modest dosimetric advantage over Linac or proton beam therapy in sparing normal tissue. These encouraging results have prompted a Phase II trial that is currently underway. Further efforts are necessary in the design of a clinically relevant trial addressing the role of fractionated external beam radiation therapy with boost vs. PRS treatment with WBRT in the treatment of single metastases.