I WISH Julie Shute all the best in her nomination for the Woman of the Year.

Readers of the article about the treatment for brain tumour may be rather bemused that she received "radiosurgery."

Essentially, radiosurgery is a smart form of radiotherapy which is given in a small number of high doses of radiation targeted at a tumour.

It is referred to as surgery, partly because the technique has developed mainly with the treatment of brain tumours, so both a neurosurgeon is involved alongside a clinical oncologist.

The latter would normally be responsible for conventional radiotherapy.

The patient has to be kept still and the head is often held in place by a mask. Hence the full title of the treatment is Stereotactic Radiosurgery or SRS for short.

There are other applications of SRS. For example, it may be an option for people suffering from the severe face pain trigeminal neuralgia.

There is scope for wider cancer and non-cancer usage of SRS and these are being considered.

Tony Murphy, Hoylake.