PET scanning and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery in the early diagnosis and salvage “cure” of locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Authors: O'Donnell, H E; Plowman, P N; Khaira, M K; Alusi, G

Source: British Journal of Radiology, Volume 81, Number 961, January 2008 , pp. e26-e30(1)

Publisher: British Institute of Radiology

Abstract:

“Gamma Knife® radiosurgery” is high-dose conformal radiation therapy used for the treatment of small target lesions in the head. It is a minimally invasive technique of multiple fixed, precisely aimed cobalt beams, and relies upon strict patient immobilization via a pinned stereotactic frame to deliver treatment to a precisely located target within a coordinated mapping system. This technique has been widely validated for the treatment of intra-cranial neoplasms and arteriovenous malformations. In this manuscript, two cases of early diagnosed, locally recurrent (persistent) nasopharyngeal carcinoma, successfully treated by Gamma Knife®, are described. In one of these, early diagnosis by PET scanning may have improved the chance of cure.

Document Type: Case report

DOI: 10.1259/bjr/15812414

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