CAPE WOMAN GETS NEW BRAIN TUMOR CANCER TREATMENT

A Cape Girardeau woman is the first patient in the region, and one of only a small group the nation, to receive a new type of chemotherapy treatment for a cancerous brain tumor.

Local neurosurgeon Dr. Scott Gibbs performed the procedure Monday at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The woman was released Friday and Gibbs said she was doing very well.

The new brain cancer treatment delivers chemotherapy directly to the tumor site using an implantable wafer.

The product was recently cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for use in patients with the most aggressive and most often fatal type of brain cancer.

The wafer, developed by Guilford Pharmaceuticals, is the first major development in the past 20 years for treatment of this type of brain tumor.

In clinical trials, use of the wafer treatment extended average life expectancy of patients with recurrent brain cancer of this type by eight weeks, Gibbs said. When a patients' life expectancy is substantially shortened, an additional two months make a big difference, he said.

Gibbs explained that a surgeon removes all the tumor that is visible.

"But we know there is some left," he said. Brain tumors have microscopic finger-like projections that extend into the otherwise normal brain tissue.

The chemotherapy wafer is placed in the spot where the tumor was removed. The biodegradable wafer administers time-released medication directly to the site of the cancer.

The advantage, Gibbs said, is that the drug doesn't travel through the entire body. When chemotherapy is administered intravenously, it may affect the whole body, sometimes causing hair loss, nausea, diarrhea and other side effects.

"We can apply the drug right where it is needed," Gibbs said.

After the wafer is implanted, doctors follow up with radiation and sometimes additional intravenous chemotherapy.

Initially the wafer was tested in patients with severe recurrent brain cancer. But recently surgeons have been using the wafers during the first surgery. This is the case with the Cape Girardeau patient.

"My patient was otherwise healthy and has every reason to want to live," Gibbs said. "She is likely to do well for some time. Her symptoms have improved and she feels better."