Laser-heat procedure burns brain tumors away

CLEVELAND, Ohio (KABC) -- Nearly 70,000 Americans are diagnosed with a brain tumor every year. Many of them will need major surgery to remove the tumor, some may also need chemotherapy. But now there's an easier and safer way to get rid of these lesions, it involves burning away the brain tumors.

Three years ago, doctors told Meghan Shultz she had a brain tumor.

"I was scared to death." Shultz said.

The eighth-grade teacher was pregnant with her son when she got the news.

"What am I going to do? I have a baby, but I have a brain tumor in my head!" Shultz said.

After baby Liam was born, Shultz had major brain surgery. Doctors cut into her skull to remove her tumor. A year later, the tumor came back, and Cleveland Clinic surgeons told Shultz about a new option.

"I think it's the next big thing in brain tumor surgery," said Gene Barnett, M.D., Neurosurgeon at Cleveland Clinic.

Instead of cutting, doctors use heat to destroy the tumor. They heat a thin laser probe up to 130 degrees, then insert it through a tiny hole and essentially burn the tumor.

"It works by heating the tissue around it to the point where it cooks, just like you're cooking a hard-boiled egg," Dr. Barnett said.

Traditional surgery requires a three-inch incision, two to four days in the hospital and one to two months of recovery. With the laser procedure, it's a three-quarter inch incision, one day in the hospital, and one to two week recovery.

Five weeks after her procedure, Shultz was back at it, teaching 120 eighth graders.

"I'm back and I feel so good, and I feel grateful every day," Shultz said.

Doctors say the laser procedure is as effective or better than traditional surgery. It's often used on patients who are candidates for traditional surgery because the laser probe can reach tumors that surgeons sometimes can't. The laser procedure may also be effective for patients with seizures.