Stereotactic radiotherapy for wet age-related macular degeneration: current perspectives

Abstract

James E Neffendorf, Timothy L Jackson Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom Abstract: Neovascular age-related macular degeneration is a leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Currently, the treatment of choice is intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF medications. These require frequent dosing, up to monthly, and impose a substantial burden on patients and the health economy. Ionizing radiation was proposed as a possible treatment for age-related macular degeneration due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties. Stereotactic radiotherapy is an outpatient-based radiotherapy platform that provides stereotactic application of low energy X-ray to the retina in three highly collimated beams that cross the inferior sclera to overlap at the macula. A randomized, double-masked, sham-controlled trial of 230 patients (INTREPID) showed that a single dose of stereotactic radiotherapy significantly reduces the number of intravitreal anti-VEGF injections needed over 2 years. A larger randomized controlled trial (STAR) is underway. Keywords: wet age-related macular degeneration, radiation therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, vascular endothelial growth factor