[RADIATION-INDUCED TUMOR DEVELOPING AFTER RADIOSURGERY: WHAT ARE THE ODDS?]

Abstract

Introduction: Stereotactic radiosurgery is a disruptive therapeutic technique that has transformed neurosurgery and the treatment of intracranial tumors in the last few decades. Achieving tumor control rates over 90%, it is performed mostly in a single session, as an outpatient procedure involving no skin cuts, head shaving, or anesthesia, Radiosurgery stands out as a treatment modality with few and mostly transient side effects. Even though ionizing radiation (the energy used in radiosurgery) is known to be cancerogenic, radiosurgery-induced tumors have been exceedingly rare. In this issue of Harefuah, the Hadassah group reports a case of glioblastoma multiforme originating in the radio surgically treated site of an intracerebral arterio-venous malformation. We discuss what we can learn from this dire occurrence.