Allegheny Health Network Surgeons First in Region to Treat Recurrent Brain Tumors with Tiny Radiation Emitting Implant

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

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PITTSBURGH, PA - Neurosurgical oncologists at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), the flagship medical center of Allegheny Health Network (AHN), are the first in the Pittsburgh region to use a novel radiation-emitting implant to treat patients with life-threatening recurrent brain tumors. The new treatment, called GammaTile therapy, delivers low-dose radiation over a period of weeks following surgical resection of a tumor to inhibit cancer cell regrowth.

The postage stamp-sized GammaTile implant is similar in function to the radioactive seed brachytherapy treatment now commonly used for cancers of the prostate and breast. It's one of the latest promising advancements in the field of brain cancer therapy, and AHN's Neuroscience Institute is now one of just two neurosurgery centers in Pennsylvania using the technology.

GammaTile therapy is beneficial when brain tumors recur and when post-operative radiation or chemotherapy options are limited.

After tumor removal, neurosurgeons place one or more GammaTiles at the resection site. The tiles then direct radiation to where the tumor is most likely to recur and where leftover cancer cells might still be hiding. Because the GammaTile radiation seeds are encased in a collagen wafer, the seeds are held in place until they become inert after two or three months. The surrounding tissue then resorbs the collagen tile.

"This is a game-changer," said Matthew Shepard, MD, neurosurgeon with the AHN Neuroscience Institute. "GammaTiles target remaining tumor cells immediately once deployed. And because the tile keeps the cesium seeds securely in place while the radiation is released, the therapy occurs while the patient is out of the hospital, as they go about their daily life."

63-year-old Anthony Parise of Beaver County was the first to receive the new treatment at AGH. Anthony had undergone multiple surgeries and multiple rounds of traditional radiation therapy to shrink and remove his brain tumors, only for them to recur. In March 2023, Dr. Shepard removed Parise's recurrent brain tumor and placed the GammaTiles in its place within the occipital lobe.

"Dr. Shepard explained it like building a house in my head," said Parise. "He said he was building a wall around the tumor and placing the GammaTile within those walls to try to contain everything so that tumor won't grow back and spread."

In clinical trials conducted at centers around the country for patients with recurrent meningiomas and brain metastases, GammaTile therapy demonstrated a significant delay in treatment site recurrence compared to their previous treatment methods.

"This is a significant patient-centered advancement in brain tumor and brain cancer surgery," said Donald Whiting, MD, Chair of the AHN Neuroscience Institutes and AHN's chief medical officer. "Because the GammaTile's radiation dose is so targeted, we can more effectively treat this challenging disease while preserving healthy brain tissue, reducing cognitive or motor skill complications, and minimizing other common side effects of radiation therapy, like hair loss."

In one study, only 1 out of 74 patients who received the GammaTile radiation therapy experienced hair loss.

Over 200,000 patients are diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor in the U.S. each year. Aggressive brain tumors tend to resist current treatments and have a high likelihood of recurrence. The current standard of care for patients with operable brain tumors is surgical removal of the cancer, followed by radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Traditional external beam radiation is delivered in as many as 30 treatments extending over a period of several weeks, each requiring separate visits to a hospital or outpatient cancer center.

"With a technology like GammaTile, we now have options to provide advanced brain cancer care in the setting that patients prefer most - their own homes," Dr. Shepard said. "We are thrilled to now be offering this therapy to our patients who might benefit from it."

Dr. Shepard specializes in surgical removal of cancerous and benign tumors of the brain, skull, and spine, as well as Gamma Knife radiosurgery and craniotomies. He offers corrective surgical options to address conditions such as Chiari malformation, stenosis, herniated discs, radiculopathy, and myelopathy.

Under Dr. Whiting's leadership, experts at the AHN Neuroscience Institute treat neurological conditions, from headaches to brain tumors, with the most advanced treatments available. The institute comprises more than 50 physicians and 54 advanced practice providers, offering care at more than 30 clinical locations across Western Pennsylvania.

To learn more, visit ahn.org/services/neuroscience.