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Radiosurgery is a form of radiation therapy provided by Cancer Care Northwest. This approach harnesses the gamma knife to specifically guide radiation in the treatment of brain tumors, trigeminal neuralgia, and vascular malformations.

More than half of people with cancer get radiation therapy. Radiation therapy may be the only kind of cancer treatment you need, and other times it is combined with other treatment methods. Radiation therapy is used today as a safe and effective treatment that is offered at three Cancer Care Northwest locations in Spokane.  Radiation therapy is used to:

  • Destroy cancer cells
  • Shrink a tumor so that it can be more easily removed by your surgical oncologist
  • Eliminate remaining cancer cells after surgery
  • Reduce the risk of recurrence
  • Slow the growth or shrink tumors to alleviate pain or other problems.
  • Cure many types of cancers without the need of any other therapy

Our radiologists are board-certified physicians who specialize in the use of radiation therapy to treat cancer. The radiologists are among the most technologically savvy in the treatment of brain tumors using gamma knife.

What is Gamma Knife? 
Gamma Knife is not a knife, but a non-invasive brain surgery tool that uses precisely guided radiation beams to eradicate brain tumors (cancerous and noncancerous).

Gamma Knife is also used to treat arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), clusters of abnormal blood vessels that can bleed. It is also used to treat functional disorders, such as trigeminal neuralgia (one-sided facial pain), and movement disorders, such as essential tremor and Parkinsonian tremor.

How does it work? 
Gamma Knife is a machine used to perform stereotactic radiosurgery, a non-invasive radiation treatment that uses hundreds of narrow radiation beams that are precisely aimed from different angles to target and destroy small to medium-sized, well-defined brain tumors or other precise targets.

Gamma Knife technology allows radiation oncologists to pinpoint the tumor, shape the radiation beams and immobilize the patient so that the radiation dose can be delivered with extreme accuracy (to less than 1mm). Computer-aided precision makes it possible to deliver high doses of radiation that kill the tumor in one treatment, while sparing damage to healthy brain tissue surrounding the tumor.

Gamma Knife at Cancer Care Northwest
Cancer Care Northwest’s radiation oncologists partner with Gamma Knife of Spokane to offer our patients focused radiosurgery treatment for brain tumors and other disorders. Gamma Knife of Spokane is home to the only dedicated stereotactic radiosurgery technology in Spokane.

Learn More
To better prepare yourself for Gamma Knife treatment, we invite you to discuss any concerns with your Cancer Care Northwest physician or radiation therapist.