Traditional surgery last year at a California hospital removed the majority of the tumor but enough tumor tissue remained that it continues to overproduce growth hormone at a level that will ultimately be fatal if he does not receive additional treatment. The Gamma Knife surgery is expected to stop the abnormal hormone production by destroying the residual tumor tissue which could not be removed by conventional invasive surgery. The Gamma Knife Cent er at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center has one of the most experienced Gamma Knife treatment teams in the country at one of the nation's busiest Gamma Knife centers. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a non-invasive procedure in which a single, highly targeted dose of radiation is delivered through the skull to the tumor. The Leksell Gamma Knife is manufactured in Sweden by Elekta AB. The device focuses 201 beams of gamma radiation directly upon the targeted tissue, thus sparing the healthy surrounding brain tissue from radiation. The tissue is targeted with pinpoint accuracy using highly sophisticated imaging and three dimensional planning technologies. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is most often performed as an outpatient procedure and Sun Ming Ming is expected to be released that afternoon. The effect of the treatment on stopping the production of new tumor cells is almost immediate; his doctors expect that it will take at least one year for his hormone levels to return to completely normal levels. # # # Media Contact: Jonnie Rohrer, 336-716-6972, jrohrer@wfubmc.edu; Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Mark Wright, mwright@wfubmc.edu, 336-716-4587. TV News Editors: Broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll will be available Thursday, Nov. 30, for overnight delivery. To preview the video, go to http://www1.wfubmc.edu/pr/Ming-GK.wmv after 2 p.m. EST Thursday. To request a BetaSP or MiniDV copy, contact Diane Stephens, dsstephe@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-6906. Please give your name, shipping address, phone number, and videotape format preference. |