GliaSite: New Treatment Option for Brain Tumors at The Queen's Medical Center

Source: Proxima Therapeutics, Inc.

The Queen's Medical Center is among the first hospitals in the U.S. to offer an important, new therapy for people with malignant brain cancer. The treatment, called the GliaSite Radiation Therapy System (RTS), delivers radiation internally from within the tumor cavity. GliaSite represents a new treatment for patients with recurrent brain tumors who have very few options left. Cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001, GliaSite has become another in a series of advanced cancer treatments offered by Queen's. Other radiation therapy cancer treatments available at Queen's include external beam radiation, XKnife radiosurgery and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT).

After surgery, an uninflated GliaSite RTS balloon catheter is placed inside the space left by the removal of the brain tumor. The other end of the catheter extends outside of the skull and is hidden underneath the skin at the top of the head. Once the patient has recovered from surgery (as soon as three days later), a solution containing a special liquid radiation is injected into the catheter, filling the balloon. The liquid delivers radiation to the edges of the tumor cavity, targeting places where cancer may remain. The patient is hospitalized for three to seven days, until the right amount of radiation is delivered. The liquid is then withdrawn and the catheter is removed during a brief surgical procedure.

The performance of the GliaSite RTS has been demonstrated in a multi-center clinical study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. On average, patients who received the GliaSite RTS treatment had a survival rate of 387 days, with a 52 percent survival rate after one year. For brain cancer patients, being able to prolong life, even by a few months, is a victory.