After a dramatic delivery in September and several weeks of installation, setup, and testing, the new Gamma Knife® Icon™ is now operational at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. With the opening of the new Gamma Knife Center, patients are being treated for conditions that include brain tumors, pituitary lesions, and disorders of cranial nerves, including trigeminal neuralgia. Appointments are now available by using the online request form. Physicians may use the online referral form. For additional information please call 866-426-7787.
(See “NYP/WCM Doubles Its Advanced Radiosurgery Options” and “Unboxing the Gamma Knife”)
The latest Gamma Knife technology allows neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists to target multiple areas of the brain simultaneously. The Icon is particularly well suited for fast, accurate, and painless treatment of small, difficult-to-reach lesions. There is typically no overnight stay and virtually no recovery time.
The new Gamma Knife at Weill Cornell Medicine will be operated jointly by the departments of Radiation Oncology and Neurological Surgery and will further cement their partnership in providing the best-in-class care for their patients with brain tumors and other disorders.
“The Gamma Knife allows the neurosurgery and radiation oncology teams at the Weill Cornell Medicine campus to offer the latest, most precise technology available for patients with brain tumors and other conditions,” says Dr. Philip E. Stieg, who is the Margaret and Robert J. Hariri, MD ’87, PhD ’87 Professor of Neurological Surgery, Chair of Neurological Surgery and Neurosurgeon-in-Chief of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The new machine is dedicated to the brain and will be used exclusively for patients of the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center and Weill Cornell Medicine Radiation Oncology.
“We pride ourselves on providing the best treatment plan for each patient, based on that individual’s needs,” says Dr. Susan Pannullo, director of neurosurgical radiosurgery for NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medicine. “With each machine offering specific benefits for different types of lesions, it’s great to have multiple options for treating patients.”
The Gamma Knife Icon rounds out one of the most robust stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) programs in the Northeast, with both NYP campuses (Weill Cornell Medicine on the Upper East Side and Columbia on the Upper West Side) now offering multiple options for non-invasive approaches to brain lesions and other conditions. At Weill Cornell, the new Gamma Knife complements the existing Brainlab system, which delivers precise radiation beams to brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations, and functional neurological disorders, and the ViewRaysystem that is used for spinal tumors. All are available to patients in the tri-state area and beyond.
“For patients who are not in Manhattan, the new Gamma Knife Center is a tremendous asset,” says Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna, chief of neurosurgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist and the director of the Weill Cornell Medicine regional SRS program. “My patients with metastatic brain tumors will now have access to all of the state-of-the-art radiosurgery options in our hospital network.” Dr. Ramakrishna is also the director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain Metastases Program and co-director of the William Rhodes and Louise Tilzer-Rhodes Center for Glioblastoma at NewYork-Presbyterian.
Gamma Knife treatment is especially effective for:
“For metastatic brain tumors and some primary brain tumors, especially, the Gamma Knife Icon allows us to offer the most precise and individualized treatment for each patient,” says Dr. Silvia Formenti, professor and chair of Radiation Oncology, Professor of Medicine, and the Sandra and Edward Meyer Professor of Cancer Research. She is also associate director for translational research of the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
“We are most fortunate to be starting a unique Brain Metastasis and Survivorship program,” continues Dr. Formenti. The program will be led by Dr. Kathryn Beal, associate professor of radiation oncology and director of the new Gamma Knife Center.
“The outcome of patients with brain metastases has improved dramatically over the past decade,” says Dr. Beal. “The need for effective, timely, and precise treatment of brain metastases with SRS has become imminently important for patient survival and functional outcome.”
The Gamma Knife program makes advanced radiosurgical options available to our patients anywhere. Gamma Knife treatments at the Weill Cornell Medical Center Upper East Side campus will be offered by neurosurgeons Dr. Susan Pannullo, Dr. Babacar Cisse, Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna (based at NYP Brooklyn Methodist), and Dr. John Park (based at NYP Queens).
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