Mayfield Clinic among 30 Sites in National Registry for Stereotactic Radiosurgery Treatments

CINCINNATI -- The Mayfield Clinic is one of 30 leading sites across the United States taking part in a national registry for stereotactic radiosurgery treatment of brain tumors. The registry, which was launched at Mayfield this month and will continue through 2017, is a project of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

The stereotactic radiosurgery registry will define national patterns of care in radiosurgery, with the goal of improving health care outcomes, supporting informed decision-making, and potentially lowering the cost of care for patients. Stereotactic radiosurgery of the brain involves the delivery of high-dose, precisely targeted beams of radiation over one to five sessions.

“The Mayfield Clinic is proud to have been selected for this significant national study,” says Ronald Warnick, MD, a Mayfield Clinic neurosurgeon and the John M. Tew, Jr., MD Chair in Neurosurgical Oncology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. “Our selection was a result of our 25 years of experience in stereotactic radiosurgery, the high volume of patients that we treat each year, and our research contributions to the field.”

Mayfield Clinic neurosurgeons and their radiation oncology colleagues at the UC College of Medicine and UC Health have been leaders in the technological evolution of stereotactic radiosurgery ever since the treatment of their first patient in 1989. The Mayfield team has treated 3,250 patients with stereotactic radiosurgery since the start of the program.

In 2009 Mayfield and UC researchers published findings that stereotactic radiosurgery for metastatic brain tumors could be accomplished safely and effectively without immobilizing a patient’s head with an invasive head frame. These findings ushered in a new era, wherein patients could be successfully treated while immobilized with a fabricated, noninvasive mask.

The stereotactic radiosurgery registry will collect data from 28,000 patients treated for benign brain tumors and brain metastases (tumors that have spread from other parts of the body). It will include data from Mayfield patients who undergo stereotactic radiosurgery at the Precision Radiotherapy Center in West Chester, Ohio, and in a later phase patients from Mercy Health’s Jewish Hospital Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Center.

“The registry will involve the collection of clinical and imaging data,” Dr. Warnick says. “All data will be de-identified, meaning it cannot be connected to an individual patient. We hope that by amassing data from thousands of patients, we will be able to fine-tune the selection, care, and management of patients who require stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of benign and malignant tumors.”

ASTRO and AANS lead the Scientific Advisory Committee that is charged with providing strategic oversight for the registry, including data collection, analysis, and publication of results.

Sponsors of the project are BrainLab, Elekta, Quintiles, the Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation, and the NeuroPoint Alliance, a not-for-profit corporation established by the AANS to collect, analyze, and report on nationwide clinical data from neurosurgical practices using online technologies. Quintiles will support the data repository and provide statistical analysis.

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The Mayfield Clinic, an independent, single-specialty academic neurosurgery group, is recognized as one of the nation's leading physician organizations for clinical care, education, and research of the spine and brain. With over 20 specialists in neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and pain management, the Clinic treats 25,000 patients from 35 states and 13 countries in a typical year. Mayfield's physicians have pioneered surgical procedures and instrumentation that have revolutionized the medical art of neurosurgery for spinal diseases and disorders, brain tumors, and neurovascular diseases and disorders. Learn more about Mayfield at mayfieldclinic.com.

Precision Radiotherapy Center, a partnership of the Mayfield Clinic and UC Health’s Department of Radiation Oncology, offers high-precision radiotherapy and radiosurgery for tumors and other abnormalities both inside and outside the brain. The center’s specialists treat adult, adolescent, and pediatric patients for benign and malignant tumors of the brain, head and neck; tumors of the spine, lung, breast, prostate, liver, kidney, pancreas, colon/rectum, reproductive tract, and skin; vascular malformations; and trigeminal neuralgia.