About 17,000 new cases of high-grade gliomas are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2019, according to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States.
Gliomas are tumors that arise from the supportive tissue of the brain and account for 80 percent of all malignant brain tumors. The most common and well-known type of high-grade glioma is glioblastoma, which has affected public figures such as the late Sen. John McCain and the late son of former Vice President Joe Biden, Beau Biden.
High-grade gliomas, such as glioblastomas, infiltrate into a person’s brain tissue which can make it difficult for surgeons to differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue in the brain during surgery.
On Nov. 5, 2019, Prevea Health neurosurgeon, Dr. Joseph Chabot, became the first in Wisconsin to use Gleolan™, a new, breakthrough tool designed to make the surgical removal of high-grade gliomas more effective. The surgery was performed at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay on a patient with glioblastoma.
Gleolan is an imaging agent or dye that shows the surgeon where the cancerous tissue is located within the brain. Patients ingest the Gleolan solution 2 to 4 hours prior to the surgery. Then, during surgery, the surgeon views the brain through a special blue light filter on a surgical microscope. Under this blue light, the active substance in Gleolan causes the cancerous tumor cells to appear a red-violet color, while the non-cancerous brain cells appear blue.
This photo depicts how a surgeon views a high-grade glioma under white light, versus with the use of Gleolan.
“The goal is to remove as much of the tumor as possible without harming areas of the brain that control critical functions such as speech or balance,” said Dr. Chabot. “Although these types of tumors are generally not curable, the use of this new approach can help extend the length of someone’s life without sacrificing the quality of their life.”
Dr. Chabot is specially trained in the removal of complex brain tumors, and, is the only neurosurgeon in Northeast Wisconsin with fellowship training in open and endoscopic skull base surgery. He also participated in the clinical trial that led to the FDA-approval of Gleolan in the United States in 2017.
Dr. Chabot sees patients in Green Bay at the Prevea Allouez Health Center, 1821 S. Webster Ave., and in Appleton at Prevea Health, 2700 E. Enterprise Ave., Suite B. He performs surgery at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. Appointments can be made by calling (920) 272-3450.
