What is a Linear Accelerator? Chapter 7 - Brain Metastases: A Documentary

This chapter explains how a linear accelerator-a machine used to deliver radiation to tumors-treats brain metastases.
Watch the entire documentary from the beginning here: • Brain Metastases: A Do...
The development of the linear accelerator has changed how cancer is treated. Learn more about the science behind how these machines work and how they are used for cancer care.
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Video Transcript:
David Andrews, MD: Another way to deliver stereotactic radiation is the linear accelerator. It uses accelerated electrons that are channeled into a collision with a heavy metal target and out of this comes high-energy photons.
James Robar, PHD: When they slow down, they actually emit X-Rays, not like the X-Rays that you would use to take a picture of somebody in a chest X-Ray, for example. They’re about 100 times more energetic. These X-Rays are designed to kill cancer cells. Once we had the linear accelerator we had a whole wealth of new tools. We were able to direct radiation beams from different angles and overlap them. We don’t actually have to deliver all the beams at the same time. The biological effect of depositing those is additive, even if we deliver those beams sequentially. We do this quite quickly. We do the whole series of beams and deliver the entire treatment within about 15 minutes to half an hour.
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Interested in learning more? See our other chapters below that address many questions regarding brain metastases:
What are brain metastases? • What are Brain Metasta...
How do brain metastases develop and what causes them? • What Causes Brain Meta...
What are the possible treatment options for brain metastases? • Is Chemotherapy Effect...
What is Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT) and how is it used to treat brain metastases? • What is Whole Brain Ra...
What is stereotactic radiosurgery? • What is Stereotactic R...
What is the Gamma Knife? • What is the Gamma Knif...
Frame-based vs. frameless radiosurgery. What’s the difference and how does it impact the patient and treatment? • How are Patients Immob...
How does Cyberknife technology treat brain tumors? • What is the CyberKnife...
What is a multileaf collimator and what role does it play in radiosurgery? • What is Shaped Beam Ra...
What if a patient has more than one brain metastases? How are they treated? • Can Multiple Tumors Be...
Some radiosurgery treatments can be completed in just one visit. Why are multiple treatments (known as fractions) sometimes necessary? • When is Radiosurgery P...
If it can harm the patient, why is Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT) still done? • Why is Whole Brain Rad...
What does “Cancer is being treated as a chronic illness" mean? How do brain metastases patients maintain their quality of life? • What Happens After Rad...
Why is surgery sometimes necessary to treat brain metastases? • When is Surgery Recomm...
Do you ever need to have both surgery and radiosurgery to treat brain metastases? Why? • Do You Ever Need Both ...
How do I choose the best care team for treating my brain metastases? • How to Choose the Best...
What is the future outlook a brain metastases diagnosis? • What is the Future of ...