Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for Tumors Near the Spinal Cord

The purpose of this research study is to determine if Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) is a good way to treat tumors near the spinal cord. Patients will either receive a single treatment or 25 days of treatment given once-a-day, Monday through Friday for about 5 continuous weeks. Our protocol uses life expectancy, patient preference, and tumor size to determine whether SBRT is delivered with 1 or 25 treatments. The single treatment dose is 15 Gy. The 25 treatment group is 70 Gy at 2.8 Gy/treatment.

This protocol is a study of the use of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for all types of primary or metastatic tumors near the spinal cord. The major goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a specific SBRT program in a prospective manner. The main outcome variables in this study are pain and neurologic function. A major issue in delivering SBRT is the number of treatment sessions. There are advantages and disadvantages to both single and multi treatment programs. In this protocol, patients are offered SBRT with either a single treatment or 25 treatment days. This study is not designed to compare different SBRT schedules. A single treatment program is more convenient and likely to relieve symptoms sooner than a multi-session program. A program with 25 treatments may produce better long-term results. Our protocol uses life expectancy, patient preference, and tumor size to determine whether SBRT is delivered with 1 or 25 treatments.