RWJUH Introduces the Latest Non-Invasive Treatment for Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors

By: Shabbar Danish, MD, FAANS, Chief of Neurosurgery, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Director of the Gamma Knife Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Nearly 80,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed this year. Approximately one-third or 32% of brain and Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors are malignant, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. It is estimated that there are nearly 700,000 people in the U.S. living with a primary brain and CNS tumor. Brain tumors can occur at any age, but they are more frequent in children and older adults.

These statistics are sobering but new treatments and procedures are being discovered every day to help people fight brain and spine tumors. One such treatment is GammaKnife Therapy. The GammaKnife is not a knife in the normal sense of the word. Your physician will make no incisions in your head; no blades are used. Instead, the GammaKnife uses radiation. This approach, known as radiosurgery, focuses radiation directly, and very precisely, on the targeted area of the brain without affecting surrounding healthy tissue.

GammaKnife radiosurgery is a non-invasive treatment that is administered on an outpatient basis and patients typically return to regular daily activities within a few days after treatment. Unlike with surgery, there is no hospitalization, convalescence or rehabilitation required. GammaKnife may be used either as an adjunct to (after or before) surgery or radiation therapy or as an alternative to those treatments.

Primary and metastatic brain tumors are challenging to treat. While surgery is an effective option, great care must be taken to minimize damage to normal surrounding brain tissue, and patients are at risk for surgical complications such as infection, post-surgical bleeding, and complications due to anesthesia. Traditional radiation therapy delivered to the brain may cause damage to healthy tissue within the brain and other parts of the body, leading to side effects such as hair loss, skin problems, neurocognitive decline and fatigue.

The latest version of the GammaKnife, Icon, provides the flexibility for either accurate single dose administration or multiple treatment sessions over time enabling treatment of larger tumor volumes, targets close to critical brain structures and new or recurring brain metastases. The new platform allows for both frame and frameless treatments, so that the high accuracy of GammaKnife therapy can now be combined with the comfort of a frameless setup. Increasing the precision of cranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is essential for effectively targeting tumor tissue while protecting healthy brain tissue from damage.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) in New Brunswick is the first hospital in New Jersey to offer the Leksell Gamma Knife Icon, which is the only system developed specially for brain radiosurgery.

If you have been diagnosed with a brain or CNS tumor, I encourage you to talk to your physician about your treatment options. Specific treatment for brain tumors using the Gamma Knife will be determined by your physician based on:

• Your age, overall health and medical history

• Type, location and size of the tumor

• Extent of the condition

• Your tolerance for specific medications, procedures or therapies

• Expectations for the course of the condition

• Your opinion or preference

For more information about the Leksell Gamma Knife Icon Program at RWJUH New Brunswick visit http://www.rwjuh.edu/gamma-knife/gamma-knife-center.aspx. To learn more about RWJUH, please visit www.rwjuh.edu. For a referral to a physician affiliated with RWJUH, please call 1-888-MD-RWJUH.