CoxHealth offers scalpel-free brain surgery

New technology will soon allow radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons at CoxHealth to attack brain tumors and tumors in close proximity to the spinal cord more effectively and more safely and without surgery.

According to a CoxHealth news release, Hulston Cancer Center will purchase a new m3 micro-Multileaf Collimator with ExacTrac X-ray positioning, with the first patients undergoing treatment by summer.

The new technology enables precise contouring of high-energy radiation beams. Stereotactic radiosurgery enables a high dose of radiation to be applied to small or difficult-to-reach lesions, sending the maximum possible amount of radiation into the lesion while minimizing the amount of radiation that goes into surrounding normal tissue. That is especially important in the brain, where lesions may be near or wrapped around critical nerves, according to Dr. Ibrahim Abdalla, board-certified radiation oncologist.

"This offers our patients an alternative to traditional open-brain surgery for some types of tumors," Abdalla said in the release. "We can offer them more comprehensive treatment options with less-invasive procedures that maintain the quality of life for our patients."

Potential patients include individuals with primary brain cancers as well as cancers in the lung, kidney, breast and melanomas.

"Radiosurgery allows neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists to work together to deliver radiation to a precise location or locations," said Dr. J. Charles Mace, a board-certified neurosurgeon, in the release. He noted that for some patients with brain or spinal tumors or vascular abnormalities, conventional neurosuergery may not be the best treatment.

BrainLab stereotactic radiosurgery has been used successfully at 110 hospitals. More than 30,000 people worldwide undergo radiosurgery for cranial tumors each year.

Neurosurgeons favor stereotactic radiosurgery for selected conditions because it offers an effective noninvasive alternative to conventional brain surgery, which requires opening up the skull.

CoxHealth has filed a letter of intent with the Certificate of Need committee for the purchase of the BrainLab system. The Letter of Intent requests a nonapplicability review determination be made by the committee at its May 24 meeting.