Kettering Health to offer new therapy that makes fighting brain tumors easier

DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) - Kettering Health is now the first provider in the Dayton area to offer GammaTile Therapy.

GammaTile Therapy is an FDA-cleared, Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) device that contains titanium radiation sources. The sources are embedded in a square “tile” and implanted in the brain immediately following tumor removal surgery.

The tiles administer therapeutic doses of radiation at the site of the tumor to prevent new cancer cells from forming and attack any lingering tumor cells. Once the entire therapeutic dose is administered, the tiles dissolve into the surrounding tissue.

“With the use of GammaTile, we are seeking to control recurrent brain tumors in a more long-lasting way than we can with surgery alone,” said Anthony Paravati, MD, who helped perform the procedure. “If a tumor recurrence develops, the delivery of high dose radiation, in the highly conformal way that GammaTile affords us, is very attractive from a safety and efficacy point of view.”

Historically, patients with recurrent operable brain tumors had surgery to remove the tumor potentially followed by a second course of (externally delivered) radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy. The surgically implanted GammaTiles deliver radiotherapy from the inside as the patient lives their daily life, eliminating the need for outpatient radiation therapy appointments. To date, patients receiving GammaTile have tolerated the therapy quite well.

“It is important that we offer this therapy, and we are proud to be the first to offer this therapy in the greater Dayton region,” said Mark Hoeprich, MD, who helped perform this procedure. “GammaTile provides us one more arrow in our quiver to help our patients fight brain tumors with all the most advanced available options of a comprehensive cancer center right here in Dayton.”