Radiation is frequently recommended for patients who are not good candidates for surgery or if there is significant residual tumor after surgical resection. So called standard radiation is administrated on a daily basis over a period of many weeks. Radiosurgery is a newer technique which aims a very high dose of radiation to a small focal area. This technique delivers a high dose of radiation to destroy the tumor and minimizes the destructive affect of radiation into the adjacent normal structures. Gamma knife and Linac are the most commonly administered forms of radiosurgery and both are utilized here at Washington University.
All radiation is done under the guidance of radiation oncology specialists.
In some cases, chemotherapy is also indicated for complicated tumors of the skull-base and this is administered under the guidance of the medical oncologist.