MOST PROVEN RADIOSURGERY TREATMENT
Gamma Knife. No Incision. No Hospital Stay. Documented Outcomes.

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superior to other
radiosurgery systems?

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“It’s extremely satisfying to treat someone with a debilitating problem
and see them get better with such a minimally invasive approach."

Marc Goldman, MD, Neurosurgeon

What Makes Gamma Knife Different?

Gamma Knife was developed with the philosophy
that the brain is special, and where the brain is concerned,
no instrument can be too refined.

GENTLE CARE
EXPERIENCE
In typically a single outpatient session, patients receive a treatment plan and treatment. Treatment is completed in a few hours, with little to no side effects.
CLINICALLY
PROVEN
Universally preferred. No other radiosurgery system has greater clinical acceptance. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is performed in leading hospitals around the world, with more than 70,000 patients treated every year.*
*Source: Leksell Gamma Knife Society
PIONEERING
INNOVATION
From its introduction as the first dedicated radiosurgery system to the countless refinements in planning and efficiency, Gamma Knife has set a standard of care that other radiosurgery systems seek to emulate.

EXCLUSIVELY
BRAIN
Gamma Knife is not a one-size-fits-all technology. It is solely focused on the brain, and only the brain. In fact, Gamma Knife is the only non-invasive radiosurgery system specifically engineered to treat delicate brain tissue.
MICROSCOPIC
ACCURACY
Multiple beams deliver the exact prescribed dose to the target areas while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
More on
Gamma Knife

U.S. News &
World Report 2015

7 of the top 10
Neuroscience Centers
have Gamma Knife

IS GAMMA KNIFE RIGHT FOR ME?

Leksell Gamma Knife ® is clinically proven to non-invasively treat indications in the brain ranging from very small target sizes of a few millimeters to several centimeters. Contact your health professional to find out if Gamma Knife is the right choice for you.

Tumors

Brain Metastases
Acoustic Neuroma

Vestibular Schwannoma
Meningioma

Glioblastoma
Pituitary Adenoma

Vascular

Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)

Pain & Movement
Disorders

Essential Tremor
Trigeminal Neuralgia

“We see patients with tumors that traditionally we might have taken to the operating room and made a big incision and the patient may have stayed in the hospital for 3 to 5 days. Now with the Gamma Knife, a completely non-invasive procedure, we can achieve the same result. We can treat the tumor and stop it from growing without ever having to make an incision.”

Sarah Jost Fouke, MD, Neurosurgeon

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#3 BRAIN SURGERY WITHOUT A CUT

5 AMAZING BRAIN SURGERY INNOVATIONS in Health Hub from Cleveland Clinic. Health Hub from Cleveland Clinic presents medical, health and wellness news, information and insights from Cleveland Clinic’s experts.

The brain, with its delicate twists and turns, can be a mine field for surgeons and their teams working to remove tumors. Medical technologies have evolved in creative, exciting ways to treat tumors while conserving the healthy, normal surrounding tissue. Here are five important innovations that have extended the lives of brain tumor patients.

1. Destroying cancer cells with laser-directed heat

When cancer is located in hard-to-reach brain areas or areas that control a person’s vital functions, it can be too risky to perform traditional surgery.

Laser interstitial thermal therapy transmits heat to coagulate, or “cook,” brain tumors from the inside out. A medical innovation called NeuroBlate offers precise positioning of the laser to target, heat and destroy brain tumors. It integrates it with intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, producing detailed images of internal organs without using radiation.

This innovation offers an option for tumors once considered inoperable. Surgeons can reference high-resolution images as they are operating. They can see and direct the progress of tumor destruction as it happens, which increases the likelihood that tumors will be completely treated.

2. Making tumors ‘glow’ to help surgeons remove them

Often, surgeons must be conservative when removing brain tumors. They may need to leave some of a brain tumor behind to avoid damaging a person’s healthy tissue – especially if the tumor is located near areas that control important functions. The challenge comes in locating the edges of the tumor. The edges of a tumor can look just like healthy tissue.

During a traditional surgery, surgeons will remove all that they can and patients are later treated with chemotherapy and radiation to kill the remaining cancer. For aggressive brain tumors, called glioblastomas, doctors are working on a way to get more of the tumor during surgery, making them glow a pinkish-red color when exposed to blue light. The technique is still experimental, but it allows surgeons to more clearly see the margins of a tumor. This can make a big difference in the cancer fight by offering a better prognosis for patients.

How it works: Before surgery, a patient will drink a liquid that contains 5-aminolevulinic acid (5 ALA), a substance that causes the tumor, and only the tumor, to glow. This allows for more precise removal during surgery.

3. Performing brain surgery without a cut

Today, it’s possible to have brain surgery in the morning and be home later that day with Gamma Knife surgery. This is a minimally invasive, targeted therapy that delivers radiation into a specific area of the brain.

In a single treatment, 201 beams of gamma rays are focused at multiple points which are designed to deliver radiation that matches the shape of the tumor. Because of this precise focusing ability, aggressive, high-dose gamma radiation can be delivered to stabilize, shrink, or destroy some lesions – even those deep in the cerebral hemispheres or brain stem.

Most patients don’t feel anything during the treatment or recovery. Being able to treat some brain tumors without making any cuts is a huge step forward for patients. The most common use for this treatment is brain metastases – or cancer that originated in some other part of the body but which has spread to the brain.

Experts say Gamma Knife is often equal or superior to regular brain surgery in effectiveness, is virtually painless and has fewer complications.

4. Using electric fields to slow tumor growth

It’s interesting that very low-intensity, intermediate-frequency alternating electric fields can slow growth of some recurring tumors. Called tumor treating fields (TTFields), they can inhibit the growth of tumor cells. These tumor-treating fields are particularly useful in treating glioblastoma, an incurable malignancy with overall survival of 15-18 months.

This noninvasive treatment works to stop the tumor cells from dividing and keep them from growing. TTFields therapy is frequency tuned to specific cancer cell types.

One study compared the use of TTFields with chemotherapy in recurrent glioblastoma patients and found that TTFields therapy is associated with minimal toxicity, better quality of life, and comparable effectiveness to chemotherapy. Researchers have ongoing and future studies planned to evaluate TTFields in newly diagnosed glioblastoma, solid tumor brain metastases, nonsmall cell lung cancer, and ovarian and pancreatic cancers.

How it works: As these aggressive tumor cells try to grow, the electric fields disrupt them. One system, the Novo TTF-100A®, involves a patient wearing what looks like a very thin swimming cap on his head. This “cap” contains electrically insulated surface transducer arrays that deliver TTfields generated by a device that he can wear on his back.

5. Team approach for lesions in the base of the skull

Lesions located in or around the base of the skull are very difficult to treat surgically. It’s a challenge for surgeons to reach and remove deep-seated intra- and extra-cranial skull base lesions while protecting healthy brain tissue.

When it comes to skull base tumors, a team effort is instrumental to success. It can require the highly specialized techniques of specialists in interventional neuroradiology, otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat), neurosurgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, and neuroanesthesiology. The main goal of skull-base surgery is to allow surgeons access to difficult-to-reach lesions by moving (anatomic displacement) or removing parts of the base of the skull.

These techniques reduce or eliminate the need for pushing back or moving brain tissue, which helps protect injury to the brain, cranial nerves, and blood vessels.

*NeuroBlate is a trademark of Monteris Medical IncCleveland Clinic, Brain & Spine Team “Five Amazing Brain Surgery Innovations” Brain & Spine Health / Cancer Health, October 6, 2014.

Disclaimer: This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice and does not provide advice on treatments or conditions for individual patients. All health and treatment decisions must be made in consultation with your physician(s), utilizing your specific medical information. The links set out on this website are provided for your convenience only.

You have a Choice

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What Makes Gamma Knife Different?

GENTLE CARE EXPERIENCE

CLINICALLY PROVEN

PIONEERING INNOVATION

EXCLUSIVELY BRAIN

MICROSCOPIC ACCURACY

IS GAMMA KNIFE RIGHT FOR ME?

BRAIN SURGERY WITHOUT A CUT

#3 BRAIN SURGERY WITHOUT A CUT

5 AMAZING BRAIN SURGERY INNOVATIONS in Health Hub from Cleveland Clinic. Health Hub from Cleveland Clinic presents medical, health and wellness news, information and insights from Cleveland Clinic’s experts.

1. Destroying cancer cells with laser-directed heat

2. Making tumors ‘glow’ to help surgeons remove them

3. Performing brain surgery without a cut

4. Using electric fields to slow tumor growth

5. Team approach for lesions in the base of the skull

You have
a Choice

ASK FOR IT
BY NAME

GENTLE CARE
EXPERIENCE

CLINICALLY
PROVEN

PIONEERING
INNOVATION

EXCLUSIVELY
BRAIN

MICROSCOPIC
ACCURACY