Posts Tagged ‘Brain Tumor’
From left to right are Salena Barrett, Nurse Manager; John Fuller, MD, FRACS (Neurosurgeon); Scott Piggott, Chief Radiation Therapist; Michael Izard, MD, FRANZCR (Radiation Oncologist); Angela Hong, MD, FRANZCR (Radiation Oncologist); Kate Tynan, Cancer Services; Michael Grace (Medical Physicist)
At the 15th International Leksell Gamma Knife® Society Meeting, convened May 16-20 in Athens, Greece, members selected Macquarie University Hospital (MUH) to be the host site for the 16th Society Meeting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
“Attendees were very supportive and enthusiastic about Macquarie hosting the meeting,” says John Fuller Macquarie neurosurgeon and Gamma Knife program co-director. “It’s a fantastic privilege and we are already working toward making it the best ever.”
In August, clinicians at MUH performed Australia’s first Gamma Knife® surgery with their new Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system. The first radiosurgery patient, a 33-year-old man with multiple brain tumors, underwent a 100-minute treatment and was able to return home the same day, according to Dr. Fuller.
“He was awake during the whole procedure and received only a local anesthetic,” Dr. Fuller reports. “The gentleness of Gamma Knife surgery not only benefits patients, but also extends to their families, our treatment team and the healthcare system as a whole.”
To read more about MUH’s Gamma Knife radiosurgery program, visit http://www.elekta.com/ewavelength.
Williams Walk and Run
Join Elekta at the 11th Annual William’s Walk & Run tomorrow, Saturday, September 12, 2009
Mansell Crossing Shopping Center
7730 North Point Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30022
(Near North Point Mall)
1-Mile Walk ~ 5K Run / 10K Peachtree Road Race Qualifier
EVENT TIMES:
Check-in/Registration ~ 6:15 – 7:45 a.m.
Walk ~ 7:30 a.m.*
5K/10K runs ~ 8:00 a.m. **
*Ribbon to all finishers
**Awards for 10 years and under to 70 years and older
William’s Walk & Run is a spectacular fundraising event named in honor of William Nichols who lost his battle with a brain tumor at the age of one. Now in its 11th year, this event celebrates the lives of children who are fighting brain tumor disease, as well as those who did not survive. Proceeds will support critical programs/services offered by the Brain Tumor Foundation for Children.
Competitors at last years race
http://www.firstgiving.com/btfc
View Images from last years race here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elekta/sets/72157615495796309/
Martin Kemp
AWARD-WINNING actor and singer Martin Kemp will open a new brain tumour centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital on Friday.
The Spandau Ballet and former EastEnders star, who grew up around Essex Road, Islington, is about to embark on a sell-out world tour with the reunited band having recovered from a brain tumour 14 years ago.
The tumour was benign, but fast-growing, and Mr Kemp’s recovery was long and painful after he had it surgically removed and a metal plate fitted in his skull.
When a further area of tumour was found, doctors said a second operation was too dangerous and he underwent an early form of “targeted” radiotherapy at Bart’s.
Tomorrow he will return to the hospital in West Smithfield to open The London Gamma Knife Centre, where patients will receive non-invasive surgery which targets radiation precisely on the tumour.
Mr Kemp said: “It’s great Gamma Knife surgery is now available and that so more people will have access to this kind of treatment with the opening of the centre.”
Unlike brain surgery, Gamma Knife patients only have a local anaesthetic and are often well enough to go back to work the following day. In most cases, it is effective after one dose and can be used for many types of tumours – malignant and benign – in the brain, and the head and neck area.
Consultant neurosurgeon, Ian Sabin, said: “The Gamma Knife is highly effective with a success rate of up to 95 per cent for certain benign tumours. It also has a better success rate than surgery for secondary tumours in the brain.
“The numbers requesting the procedure will grow as more people become aware of its benefits.
The centre is part of a joint £3million venture between Bart’s and The London NHS Trust and HCA, the private hospital group.
It will eventually become part of the Barts and The London Cancer Centre, which is currently being built and will open in 2010.
Mr Sabin added: “Having the Gamma Knife Centre at Barts fits our profile as a leading cancer treatment and research centre.
“Patients benefit because it means we can collaborate closely with the other specialities here in terms of their treatment.
Full Article here: http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk
Randy Schoof
read the full article here
Two hours after brain surgery, I was eating fried chicken and pondering the wonders of modern medicine.
I didn’t even have a headache, which seemed miraculous, given the doctors had drilled four screws into my skull to attach a frame that kept my head still during Gamma Knife surgery.
OK. The word “surgery” is a misnomer. The Gamma Knife doesn’t draw blood and isn’t actually a knife. It’s an instrument that delivers 201 extremely focused cobalt radiation beams to treat cancerous tumors and other brain disorders.
The dosage and location are so precise that many patients can avoid the cognitive impairment that can come with invasive brain surgery or whole brain radiation. Those were the options before the Gamma Knife, first used in the U.S. in the late 1980s. (UAB has been home to the state’s only Gamma Knife since the mid-1990s.)
Three weeks before surgery, my oncologist, Dr. Carla Falkson, had delivered bad news. A brain scan showed something I had hoped to avoid in my battle with metastatic breast cancer: Multiple small tumors had formed in my brain and were the likely cause of my recent dizziness and bouts of nausea.
I cried. Then came good news. Falkson had already spoken to Dr. Jim Markert, director of UAB neurosurgery, who agreed I was a Gamma Knife candidate.
Read the remainder of this story here: Brain surgery? No problem and no pain
Gamma Knife 4C
Gamma Knife Perfexion
For more information about the Gamma Knife, click the image below to learn more:
Leksell Gamma Knife Interactive Brochure
http://www.elekta.com/assets/gammaknife/perfexion/loader.html
Where Brain Metastases Occur
A brain tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue in which cells grow and multiply uncontrollably. Primary brain tumors originate in the brain and rarely spread to other parts of the body.
Metastatic (or secondary) brain tumors come from cancer cells in another part of the body and develop as a tumor in the brain. The site where the cancerous cells originated is referred to as the primary cancer.
The diseased cells spread to the brain by moving through the bloodstream and continue growing in their new location. This spread of a tumor to a new part of the body is called metastasis, and the primary cancer is said to have metastasized.
There has been an increase in metastatic brain tumors, as people are surviving primary cancers for longer periods of time.
Roll over areas of the brain to see risk of metastases.
This website is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice and does not address specific treatments or conditions specific to any patient. All health and treatment decisions must be made in consultation with your physician(s), utilizing your specific medical information. The information on this website is subject to change.
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