St. Joseph Performs First Radiosurgery at Cancer Institute –
Knifeless Surgery For Inoperable Brain Tumors
Investigating use for lung cancer
St. Joseph Medical Center’s division of Neurosurgery in conjunction with its Radiation Oncology Center entered a new era with the hospital’s first treatment of a brain tumor using radiosurgery, which is comparable to performing surgery without a knife. The radiosurgery took place June 17, 2009, for a patient with renal cell (kidney) cancer that had metastasized to the brain. Radiosurgery delivers a high radiation dose in a very precise volume to a tumor, is done on an outpatient basis, and takes less than an hour.
WHO: Dr. Neal Naff, chief of Neurosurgery
Dr. Jason Citron, medical director of the Radiation Oncology Center at St. Joseph
Dr. Naff, who began doing radiosurgery in 2003 and is the most experienced Baltimore area neurosurgeon in radiosurgery for brain and spine lesions said, “Radiosurgery is directed at the tumor and spares the surrounding tissue. It offers an alternative for tumors that are otherwise inoperable due to their locations.” Brain tumor patients usually need only one radiosurgery treatment according to Naff, who has performed more than 200 radiosurgeries and teaches nationally.
Radiosurgery can be used for primary tumors, as well as those that have spread to the brain or spine from somewhere else in the body. Although its main application is for brain metastases, meningiomas and other benign brain tumors, cerebral arteriovenous malformations and pituitary adenomas, St. Joseph Medical Center is “expanding its uses and investigating treating lung cancer and liver mestatases for patients who cannot tolerate surgery,” said Dr. Mark Krasna, director of St. Joseph’s Cancer Institute. “A special, unique device that synchronizes the patient’s breathing with the radiation delivery is being installed for lung cancer treatment.”
Radiosurgery at St. Joseph is performed using a Clinac iX linear accelerator with stereotactic radiosurgery capability. “Multi-leaf collimators, which are thin metal sliding mechanisms, shape the radiation beam, so that it can be altered to avoid normal, healthy tissue,” said Dr. Jason Citron.
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St. Joseph Medical Center is a 354-bed nonprofit, regional medical center at 7601 Osler Drive, Towson, Md., and a member of Catholic Health Initiatives. Founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis, St. Joseph has been recognized by “U.S. News & World Report” as one of America’s best orthopaedic facilities and is a nationally ranked Top 100 heart hospital. For more information about St. Joseph Medical Center, visit www.sjmcmd.org.
