April 18, 2019 — Peter Nakaji, M.D., FAANS, general practice neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute, presented new research on surgically targeted radiation therapy for previously irradiated intracranial neoplasms during the 2019 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) annual scientific meeting, April 13-17 in San Diego. Nakaji’s research was the winner of the Mahaley Clinical Research Award.
Resection alone is typically insufficient for recurrent, previously irradiated intracranial neoplasms and repeat adjuvant external beam radiation treatment (EBRT) is often contraindicated. For these reasons, researchers prospectively evaluated the combination of maximum safe resection (R) and surgically guided collagen tile brachytherapy (TBT) in this cohort of patients. This study differed from older studies in that the isotope used, Cesium 131, has a shorter half-life than that used a generation ago, and the brachytherapy seed spacing is achieved by imbedding the sources in a collagen carrier.
According to researchers, "We believe that this new technology is fundamentally different from the older brachytherapy studies in both the isotope and the spacing, and this is what has given us our favorable results across a range of tumor types.”
At the end of the study, it was found that surgically targeted tile brachytherapy exhibited good site local control (LC) and overall survival (OS) with complication rates comparable to existing treatments. This study adds to recent studies supporting the use of brachytherapy for neurosurgical disease. This treatment could expand the therapeutic options for this difficult cohort of patients.
For more information: www.aans.org
January 28, 2026 
