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The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, is now offering gamma knife radiosurgery to treat eye tumours such as choroidal melanoma, in a departure from usual practice.
While gamma knife surgeries are usually used to treat brain tumours, AIIMS New Delhi claims to be the only institution in India to perform it for treating intraocular tumours (tumours present within the eyeball).
“We have started the gamma knife treatment recently and have found it to be promising in providing tumour control, especially in cases that are not suitable for other eye-saving treatments like plaque brachytherapy,” a senior official at the hospital said.
While choroidal melanoma has a rare incidence rate globally, AIIMS claims that it has recently seen an uptick. “It is a rare cancer but being a referral centre, we get to see 2 to 3 cases a month,” said Dr Deepak Aggarwal, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery.
AIIMS has so far operated upon 15 patients using the gamma knife technique, of which 80 per cent of patients have not had any complications after the surgery. The rest of the 20 per cent of patients have developed complications which needed other interventions.
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Commenting on the nature of the tumour, Dr Bhavna Chawla, Professor of Ophthalmology, Ocular Oncology Services, RP Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, said that choroidal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular cancer in adults. “It is a life-threatening condition, where the tumour can spread to other parts of the body,” she said.
Commenting on the cost of the procedure, Chawla said that it costs Rs 75,000. “It is an easy procedure involving a team of one or two ophthalmologists and a neurosurgeon. The eye surgeon first gives local anaesthesia to the eye and then prepares the eye for treatment by hooking the muscles so that a frame can be fitted on the skull for gamma knife treatment,” she added.
Most private hospitals use the gamma knife treatment for treating brain tumours, which can cost up to Rs 5 lakh in some cases.
The surgery is also available under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The package includes surgery and life-long follow-up to check on tumour control. “Out of the 15 patients that have been treated with the gamma knife, two availed free cost treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme,” Aggarwal said.
