OKLAHOMA CITY – A cutting edge treatment that was once used mostly on people with uncontrolled seizures is now emerging as a life-saving option for those with brain cancer. Laser interstitial thermal therapy or LITT is helping make lives better for patients that have recurring brain tumors.
This is the Harjo family doing what they like to do best, sharing family time together.Harjo family doing what they like to do best, sharing family time together.
Barry had a large tumor removed from his brain. Michael Sughrue, MD, Director of the Brain Tumor Center at University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma opted to leave in 30 percent so Barry could still communicate. As the tumor began to grow again, Barry was given three weeks to live. He had to decide what to do.Sughrue, MD, Director of the Brain Tumor Center at University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma opted to leave in 30 percent so Barry could still communicate. As the tumor began to grow again, Barry was given three weeks to live. He had to decide what to do.
“We can go for broke and take out the whole tumor,” Dr. Sughrue said.
“I was so worried about, all that time was, my wife and my babies all of the time.” Barry “Bear” Harjo told Ivanhoe.
“We decided to be aggressive,” Barry’s wife Robin Harjo explained.
Barry was doing great. Then a small spot appeared. But technology was on his side with a new procedure called LITT.
“You make an incision about that big and you drop a laser down to the target, a very thin laser fiber through the brain, and the MRI does a very fast repeated MRI over and over again, and the computer constructs a heat map,” Dr. Sughrue explained.
The surgeon can see where the heat is being dispensed and how the tumor is being burned. The patient can go home the next day.
“It was really quick, I was surprised. I was happy I got so much better,” Barry said.
“It was amazing,” Robin agreed.
Dr. Sughrue stated, “We radically changed the whole ball game so chemotherapy is more likely to work on less cancer.”
Those are the kinds of odds the Harjo family can embrace.
Doctors say LITT can also be used to help patients who don’t respond to another form of surgery, called stereotactic radiosurgery, or patients who have tissue death caused by radiation.
--------------------------------------------------------
Don't miss a thing. Get email alerts from KSAT12 today.
Get alerted to news events as they happen or sign up for a scheduled news headline email that is delivered right to your inbox. Breaking news, severe weather, daily forecasts, entertainment news, all of the day’s important events to keep you up to date wherever you are.
Sign up today. It's Free.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising Producer; Dee Morales, Field Producer; Gabriella Battistiol, Assistant Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.