NJ girl is first child in the country to be treated with experimental laser surgery for brain tumor

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NEW BRUNSWICK — Num Nums follows Madison Beggs everywhere. The floppy stuffed bunny has traveled to the Philippines, to the Grand Canyon, and just around the house with the girl since she was six months old.

The bunny now goes with the girl on her daily hospital trips for chemotherapy and radiation. Madi, a 10-year-old from Howell, was diagnosed with a rare and inoperable brain tumor over the summer, and her fluffy friend comes along, even into an MRI.

"We found out that Num Nums is MRI-compatible," said Dr. Shabbar Danish, the director of surgery at UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson’s Brain Tumor Center who’s treated Madi for the last two months.

Madi is at the forefront of a new experimental technique that has so far proven successful. The girl was given an experimental new laser ablative treatment essentially "burning" the tumor out of the center of her brain stem one month ago. The cancer had grown too far inside the cranium to be safely accessible using standard surgery.

Instead, a hole the size of a pen was bored into Madi’s skull, and a fiber-optic wire was delicately threaded in, past the brain’s blood vessels, and directly to the troublesome cancer cells. Madi was groggy during the entire procedure – but was awake for most of the minutes-long, high-tech surgery.

Just one stitch and one hour afterward, Madi was already eating gummy bears and using a laptop from her hospital bed. Just as impressively, her doctors announced last week – the one-month milestone of the surgery – that the tumor is essentially gone for the time being.

"There’s no evidence of tumor regrowth at one month," said Danish.

Madi is the first child in the country to be treated with the laser ablation surgery, said Danish.

Fewer than 100 adults nationwide have been treated with the procedure, but doctors are hopeful the Food and Drug Administration-approved laser technology will increase the chances of survival for patients who have tumors in the centers of the brain, which were previously termed "inoperable." Only six hospitals in the nation are conducting the experimental treatments on brain tumors, Danish said. (The laser has been primarily used to treat prostate and liver cancers).

The neurology and cancer-treatment team at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Brunswick combined to make Madi’s recovery possible.

Danish and Dr. Rachana Tyagi, the school’s director of pediatric neurosurgery, said Maddy’s ongoing recovery is made possible by the combination of technology with the laser and stereotactic imaging of the brain – a kind of GPS for the cranium – along with the appropriate kinds of chemotherapy and radiation that needed to come together to make the whole recovery regimen possible. Combined, they’ve pushed into new reaches of the brain, they say. (The ninth and tenth brain surgeries using the laser were performed on adults last week at Robert Wood.)

"We’re redefining what ‘inaccessible’ in the brain means," said Dr. Danish.

Mae Beggs said the decision to go with an experimental treatment for her daughter was a difficult one. But aggressively treating a brain tumor as aggressive as Madi’s was the best of all the options, she said.

"I just put my faith in the doctors and in God," Mae said. "I just want the best for Madi."

The choice was made with full consent and understanding of Madi herself. The 10-year-old is kept in the loop with every aspect of her diagnosis and treatment – as she brings Num Nums to each new appointment.

"The best thing was to tell her everything," the mother said. "She’s been a part of the whole process. I wanted her to know what’s going on."

Madi has gained 40 pounds as she continues steroids and chemotherapy treatments, and she’s tired much of the time. Though she was back at school two days after the surgery, she is now taking home lessons. But she can’t wait to get back to playing soccer and returning to the fifth-grade classroom, she said. The girl is smart – she’s proven so in high scores on math and science tests – and she said was even considering becoming a doctor before she became sick.

Mae Beggs said her daughter’s career decision can wait. The toughest decision has already been made — and with positive results, she said.

"It’s been all good decisions," the mother said.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/howell_girl_is_first_child_in.html

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Hope she fully recovers.

[Amby 490]

wow! science is amazing