The promise of stereotactic body radiation therapy in a new era of oncology.

The fusion of state-of-the-art tumor imaging with precision radiation treatment delivery systems provides the technical platform from which stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has arisen. SBRT offers an opportunity to depart from classic radiation therapy paradigms involving many weeks of treatment toward more efficient and more potent treatment schedules in a variety of clinical settings. Here, the history of SBRT is briefly reviewed, and a projection of the anticipated role of SBRT within the context of multimodality cancer treatment regimens of the future is presented.