This month’s Advocacy & Disease Education Cover Tip is shedding a light on a neuro-surgical FDA approved imaging agent known as Gleolan Brain Dye/Aminolevulinic Acid HCI. How many of you reading this Cover Tip have heard about this imaging agent or even had it used during your brain cancer tumor resection? You should know that although FDA approved, not every neurosurgeon is routinely using Aminolevulinic Acid HCI when they perform a brain tumor resection.
Gleolan is known as an “imaging agent” that is taken by patients about an hour prior to their brain tumor surgery. The benefit of Gleolan is that it helps neurosurgeons to see “high grade gliomas” which are brain tumors known as Glioblastoma or GBM. The goal of the neurosurgeon is to remove as much of the brain tumor as safely possible without harming areas of the brain that control critical functions such as speech and balance. Gliomas usually have very small cancer cells that grow in normal brain tissue which are difficult to see and remove. Gleolan simply helps the neurosurgeon see more of the cancer cells as they “fluoresce” or glow a red-violet color which helps the neurosurgeon better determine what is normal brain tumor tissue and what is cancerous tissue/cancer cells which may allow your neurosurgeon to remove more of the cancerous tissue during surgery. To learn more, go to: http://gleolan.com/patient-caregiver.
I ask you, if you or your loved one has been diagnosed or will be diagnosed in the future with a high grade glioma brain tumor, couldn’t you want your neurosurgeon to use Gleolan so that they can potentially safely remove more of the cancerous tumor tissue/cancer cells than they may have be able to do otherwise?
EBCI and I are interested in hearing your opinion on this information. Please email me at Dellann@EndBrainCancer.org to state your position on the use of Gleolan prior to your or your loved one’s brain tumor surgery/resection and/or your opinion on NOT being offered this FDA approved treatment prior to surgery as part of your treatment plan.
Dellann Elliott Mydland
President & Board Chair
The EndBrainCancer Initiative | Chris Elliott Fund
Dellann@EndBrainCancer.org
