ABSTRACT
Ionizing radiation, surgical resection, and systemically delivered drugs and molecules are all commonly used for the treatment of solid tumors. All three modalities may be used for tumors anywhere in the body, but there are few sites for which radiation therapy plays such a vital role in disease management as the central nervous system (CNS). Radiation therapy is a locoregional treatment, and it occupies a position intermediate between surgery and chemotherapy in its ability to treat intensively a portion of the body that cannot be safely resected while at the same time very effectively sparing the rest of the body from treatment-related side effects.
