The role and limitations of Gamma knife radiosurgery

The primary role of Gamma knife radiosurgery is to control small, benign or metastatic brain tumors while preserving critical neuronal functions. Controlling functional disorders is another role of Gamma knife radiosurgery. It can provide high-quality radiosurgery as it is based on 40-years of treatment history and it has a high level of maneuverability. On the other hand, the limitations of Gamma knife radiosurgery include a difficulty to control large lesions or malignant tumors, a relatively slow treatment effect, a risk of radiation injury to the optic nerve, and a limit of treatable range. Extra long-term results of more than 20 years also have to be clarified in the future.