Doctors at Tampa General Hospital and USF Health Morsani College of Medicine are the first in Hillsborough County to provide patients with recurrent brain tumours with a new treatment option.
Dubbed GammaTile, the FDA-cleared procedure surgically focused radiation therapy inside the brain treats recurrent cancer after removing the tumour.
The GammaTile method inserts a postage-stamp-sized bio-resorbable collagen tile into the tumour location just after the tumour has been surgically removed.
The method suppresses the growth of a recurrent brain tumour by precisely targeting any remaining tumour cells with gamma radiation before they have a chance to significantly multiply.
When conventional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation fail to stop the recurrence of severe brain tumours, GammaTile at Tampa General provides a potentially life-extending alternative.
In the clinical studies, it was noted that GammaTile treatment enables the patients to continue their everyday lives and didn’t need to make any additional excursions to the hospital.
The tile is insulated, with the exception of a tiny area, allowing the targeted dose on the place most likely to experience a recurrence while sparing healthy tissue and limiting adverse effects like hair loss.
There is no need for additional surgery to remove the tile because it degrades harmlessly.
Tampa General Hospital Neurosurgery medical director Dr Harry van Loveren said: “By working as a team, neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists can employ this innovative treatment for recurring brain cancer right in the operating room, providing patients with a better quality of life.
“This is a true multidisciplinary approach that takes the whole patient into account and gives each patient an opportunity to continue fighting brain cancer.”
