West Cancer Center & Research Institute in Collaboration with Semmes Murphey and St. Francis Hospital is 1st in the Mid-South to Offer a New Targeted Therapy for Brain Tumors
GammaTile Therapy Is Shown to Slow Brain Tumor Progression, Designed to Improve Patient and Caregiver Quality of Life
Andrew Boucher, MD and Madison Michael II, MD, neurosurgeons at Semmes Murphey with Matthew Ballo, MD, radiation oncologist at West Cancer Center are the first in this region to offer GammaTile® Therapy, a novel approach to treating brain tumors. GammaTile Therapy is an FDA-cleared, Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) that is designed to delay tumor regrowth for patients with brain tumors while protecting healthy brain tissue. The first two patients have been treated at St. Francis Hospital to date.
Over 200,000 patients are diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor in the U.S. each year. Aggressive brain tumors tend to be resistant to current treatments and have a high likelihood of recurrence. GammaTile is FDA-cleared for patients with newly diagnosed malignant brain tumors and recurrent brain tumors, including gliomas, glioblastomas, meningiomas, and brain metastases. The postage-stamp-sized GammaTile, which is embedded with small radiation sources, is implanted in the last five minutes of brain tumor removal surgery. The radiation immediately begins targeting tumor cells in the area where the tumor is most likely to recur. Over time and after the radiation has been delivered, the tile naturally resorbs. GammaTile Therapy is shown to improve local tumor control, which can extend a patient’s life.
According to Matthew Ballo, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology at West Cancer Center, “We are very excited to partner with Semmes-Murphey Neurosurgery Clinic and St. Francis Hospital to offer this exciting new technology. For many patients with recurrent brain cancer, a repeat surgery and a second course of external beam radiation therapy is the only way to slow down the progression of disease. Unfortunately, our hands are often tied by previous surgeries and previous external beam radiation treatments. By delivering the treatment from the inside of the brain, GammaTile lets us avoid the skin, scalp and normal brain but still deliver a high dose of radiation directly to the brain tumor. GammaTile will allow us to treat patients with brain tumors that quite frankly cannot be treated any other way. This is another example of how by working together we can meaningfully improve the lives of cancer patients here in Memphis and throughout the Mid-South
About West Cancer Center & Research Institute
The leader in comprehensive adult cancer care guided by physicians to provide the most positive outcomes through research, novel therapies, advanced technologies, preventative programs, and quality of life measures. With over 40 years of oncology expertise, 103 specialists, 10 locations and over 51,000 patients in 2021, West is positioned as the first choice for cancer care in the Mid-South and a national model for comprehensive care.
About GT Medical Technologies, Inc.
Driven to overcome the limitations of current treatments for brain tumors and raise the standard of care, a team of brain tumor specialists joined forces and formed GT Medical Technologies with a purpose of improving the lives of patients with brain tumors. GammaTile Therapy received FDA 510(k) regulatory clearance for the treatment of all types of recurrent brain tumors in July 2018. A second 510(k) regulatory clearance for the treatment of newly diagnosed malignant tumors was granted in January 2020. GammaTile is covered by Medicare and most private insurance. Extensive clinical expertise informed the design of GammaTile Therapy, and deep medical device experience guides the company. The company is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. For more information, visit https://www.gtmedtech.com/.
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