What is SABR?
Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is a way of giving radiotherapy to precisely target certain cancers. SABR is not available in all hospitals in the UK. To find out more, click here
When is SABR used?
SABR may be used to treat:
- a cancer that started in the lung (primary lung cancer) that is small in size
- a cancer that has spread to another part of the body, such as the lung, liver, lymph nodes or spine – your doctor will give you more information about this
- a type of cancer that started in the liver called hepatocellular carcinoma
- some prostate cancers
- some pancreatic cancers – this may be as part of a clinical trial
- certain types of cancer when you cannot have surgery.
It may be used to re-treat areas of the body that have already been treated with radiotherapy. Sometimes if you have already had radiotherapy it is not safe to have it to the same area again. SABR is so precise it means you may be able to have it to an area already treated with radiotherapy.
SABR is not suitable for everyone. Whether it is suitable for you depends on:
- where in the body the cancer is
- the size of the cancer
- whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body from where it started.
Your doctor can talk to you about whether it is a treatment option for you.
How does SABR work?
Radiotherapy uses high-energy rays called radiation, to treat cancer. It destroys cancer cells in the area where the radiotherapy is given. The aim is to:
- stop the cancer cells growing
- shrink the tumour or completely destroy it.
Standard external beam radiotherapy delivers several beams of radiation to the treatment area. It is usually given as a number of daily doses over a period of weeks.
SABR uses many smaller, focused beams of radiation. The beams are directed from different angles that meet at the tumour. This means that the tumour gets a high dose of radiation, while surrounding healthy tissues get a much lower dose. This lowers the risk of damage to normal cells.
Treatment is usually spread over a few days and may take up to 2 weeks. Your doctor or radiographer will explain how many sessions you need and over how many days.
Different machines can be used to give SABR. Your radiographer will tell you which machine they will use for your treatment.
