GammaTile (radiotherapy)

History

2022: New GammaTile radiotherapy started to delay brain cancer recurrence

On September 19, 2022, UC San Diego Health, located in San Diego, United States, became the first academic health care system to offer new, narrowly targeted radiation therapy that delays cancer tumor growth and protects healthy tissue in brain cancer patients.

{{quote 'As the only academic medical center in the region, UC San Diego Health aims to offer brain cancer patients the most innovative and effective treatments, says Mark Schwartz, MD and neurosurgeon. This new treatment may extend the lifespan of some patients and improve their quality of life. }}

New narrowly targeted radiation therapy that delays cancer tumor growth and protects healthy tissue in brain cancer patients

A new treatment for recurrent brain tumors, including gliomas, glioblastomas and meningiomas, is called GammaTile and involves the use of small radioactive granules that are implanted at the site of the tumor during surgery and naturally absorbed by the body.

UC San Diego Health began offering a new treatment option in July 2022. Each pellet, about the size of a postage stamp, contains sources of radioactive radiation embedded in a collagen tile that together provide targeted radioactive radiation at an accurate dosage. Irradiation immediately begins to affect cells in the area where tumor recurrence is most likely.

Over time, after the operation, the granules begin to be absorbed into the tissue. In clinical trials that evaluated the effectiveness of this treatment, patients with recurrent brain tumors, after removing them and implanting the granules, almost doubled the number of months without tumors compared to previous treatments.

{{quote 'The number of radiation sessions that brain cancer patients are exposed to can be stressful and time-consuming. This new radiation therapy will allow us to provide some patients with recurrent brain tumors with an alternative option, says Parag Sanghvi, MD, a radiation oncologist at the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. Ultimately, we will provide therapeutic doses of tumor irradiation while minimizing unnecessary irradiation^[1] }}

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