title: Current status of cranial stereotactic radiosurgery in the UK.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate and benchmark the current clinical and dosimetric practices in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in the UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  A detailed questionnaire was sent to 70 radiotherapy centres in the UK. 97% (68/70) of centres replied between June and December 2014.
  
  
  RESULTS
  21 centres stated that they are practising SRS, and a further 12 centres plan to start SRS by the end of 2016. The most commonly treated indications are brain metastases and acoustic neuromas. A large range of prescription isodoses that range from 45% to 100% between different radiotherapy centres was seen. Ionization chambers and solid-water phantoms are used by the majority of centres for patient-specific quality assurance, and thermoplastic masks for patient immobilization are more commonly used than fixed stereotactic frames. The majority of centres perform orthogonal kilovoltage X-rays for localization before and during delivery. The acceptable setup accuracy reported ranges from 0.1 to 2 mm with a mean of 0.8 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SRS has been increasing in use in the UK and will continue to increase in the next 2 years. There is no current consensus between SRS centres as a whole, or even between SRS centres with the same equipment, on the practices followed. This indicates the need for benchmarking and standardization in SRS practices within the UK.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This article outlines the current practices in SRS and provides a benchmark for reference and comparison with future research in this technique.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.|2 Department of Medical Physics, Royal County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, UK.|3 Radiation Dosimetry Group, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, UK.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4507-0734
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimitriadis
authors.affiliation: 4 Manchester Academic Science, Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.|5 The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kirkby
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.|2 Department of Medical Physics, Royal County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nisbet
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Medical Physics, Royal County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, UK.|3 Radiation Dosimetry Group, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, UK.
authors.forename: Catharine H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D016371:Cranial Irradiation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom