'Cyberknife makes brain surgery easier'

Dr Satish Rudrappa, neurosurgeon and cyberknife consultant, Brain and Spine Associates, HCG Bangalore, talks about brain tumor and modern technologies available for its treatment.

Have you seen an increase in the number of brain tumor cases in the recent past?  
Overall incidence of brain tumors is about 3% to 4% in the general population. Improvement in diagnosis technologies has increased the pickup rate of the disease. Brain tumors can affect any age group. But most cases are identified among the people in their 40s and 50s.

What is the treatment for non-cancerous brain tumors?
Luckily, most brain tumors are treatable if noticed at the right time.  Tumors can be diagnosed using the MRI scan.

Could you elaborate more on the treatment procedure?
Surgery remains the mainstay in the treatment of brain tumors. Micro surgery has excellent results. In fact, brain surgery has come to the level of day care surgery (patients can be discharged on the same day, if the post-operative observation went uneventful) if performed with good skills. About 80% of the tumors do not require further treatment. Malignant tumors, partially or deliberately left over tumors (when tumor is in the important functional areas of the brain) and tumors with high risks of recurrence require radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Could you detail about cyberknife surgery?
New developments in the radiation techniques have helped brain tumor patients a lot. One such innovation is the Radiosurgery — Cyberknife technique. This technique gives high dose radiation to a specific target area without affecting even the immediate neighbouring cells. It is robotic-based radiation therapy where patients’ diseased parts are identified with MRI/CT/ PET scans.

The tumor is marked using specially designed software. This technology can prevent unnecessary radiation that can cause irreversible damage to important areas of brain like visual nerves and intracranial arteries.

Are there any side-effects for cyberknife treatment?
The procedure lasts not more than 20 to 25 minutes. It is painless, and the patient will be completely conscious during the procedure. However,  not every tumor can be treated with this therapy.  The smaller the size of the tumor, the better the response. Biopsy to know the type and grade of the tumor is a must before subjecting the patient to the treatment.