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Updated: Apr 28, 2026
Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Gynecologic Cancer
Published on: April 17, 2012
Long-term follow-up of stereotactic radiosurgery for head and neck malignancies
Dawn Owen1,2, Fawaad Iqbal3, Bruce E Pollock1,4
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Background:
Stereotactic radiosurgery is widely applied to deliver additional dose to head and neck tumors. However, its safety and efficacy remains equivocal.
Methods:
One hundred eighty-four patients with primary head and neck cancers treated between January 1990 and August 2012 with Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery were retrospectively reviewed.
Results:
Two hundred fifteen sites were treated with Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery among 184 patients. Fifty-one percent of patients received concurrent external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), 72% had prior surgery, and 46% received chemotherapy. Most (44%) had squamous cell carcinoma and most patients (65%) were treated for recurrent disease. With a median follow-up of 17.3 months, 12-month local control was 82%. Late effects occurred in 59 patients with the most common being temporal lobe necrosis (15 patients).
Conclusion:
Radiosurgery can provide tumor control for patients with head and neck cancers involving the skull base. Long-term follow-up is important in survivors to identify late effects.
