Imagine hearing a diagnosis of “brain tumor” for a pain you thought was a toothache—a tumor pressing on a nerve at the base of the brain resulting in debilitating pain on the side of your face.
Now imagine a loved one enduring numerous invasive procedures and medication, yet the cancer in the brain keeps on growing.
The truth is, these scenarios aren’t too difficult to imagine. Today, brain cancer is one of the top 10 leading causes of cancer death in the Philippines. While not all brain tumors are cancerous, the ensuing feeling of hopelessness after such a discovery is overwhelming.
A diagnosis of a brain tumor often means traditional brain surgery: invasive procedures that carry with it high-risk especially for the delicate tissues of the brain. However, through a breakthrough technology called Gamma Knife, more and more patients can now choose a non-invasive procedure proven to shrink brain tumors or stop its growth nearly 90 percent of the time.
Gamma Knife actually uses gamma rays instead of the traditional surgical knife. This non-invasive procedure has the ability to target small brain tumors without hurting the surrounding healthy tissue. For every Gamma Knife surgery, a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists carefully customize the dosage of gamma rays and deliver the exact amount with micro-precision with the help of state-of-the-art software.
By using tiny beams of radiation, Gamma Knife surgery is able to treat hard-to-reach tumors that traditional open brain surgery cannot. More accurate targeting means being able to deliver a full dose of radiation at one time instead of multiple treatments. Considered an outpatient procedure that typically spans only a couple of hours, patients do not need to undergo shaving off their hair, general anesthesia, or endure incisions that leads to months-long recovery.
Preferred procedure of neurosurgeons and patients
Gamma Knife surgery is performed in the world’s leading hospitals. More than one million people have gone through this surgery, and it is the preferred procedure of neurosurgeons globally due to its minimal side effects and complications, and lower morbidity.
In the country, the Philippine Gamma Knife Center is housed at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Hospital. The Philippine Gamma Knife Center is one of the multidisciplinary centers of the Brain and Spine Institute at Cardinal Santos Medical Center. Established in 1998, the Philippine Gamma Knife Center has since performed almost 3,000 successful Gamma Knife procedures since it launched. The center is committed to provide the Filipino patient neurosurgical care and technology that was previously only available outside of the country. It has acquired the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, the most accurate and most advanced radiosurgery technology available in the world today.
Dr. Ted Vesagas explains, “Perfexion now has an eXtend program, which allows the delivery of multiple sessions of Gamma Knife by using a head cushion to immobilize the patient’s head—it improves their tolerance for multi-session procedures. Before, treatments that took three to five consecutive days would be difficult for the patient. This means, Perfexion can now safely treat brain tumors that require more than one session of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery.”
He adds that over 280 successful procedures have been undertaken using Perfexion at the center. With this new technology available in the country, more people will be able to overcome the devastating diagnosis of a brain tumor because of the beams of hope that the Gamma Knife Perfexion surgery delivers.
To find out if Gamma Knife Surgery is right for you, call the Philippine Gamma Knife Center, Inc. at 7259254 or 7237575. You may also send an email at info@gammaknife.com.ph or visit the center at Cardinal Santos Medical Center compound Wilson Street, Greenhills, San Juan Metro Manila. For more information visit www.gammaknife.com.ph