Detroit-based Henry Ford Cancer Institute physicians performed a spinal laser interstitial thermal therapy procedure, which destroys cancer cells close to the spine without open surgery.
What you should know:
1. The institute believes it is the second place in the world to perform the procedure.
2. With SLITT, patients recover in days, instead of the months required for open surgery.
3. Surgeons have used laser ablation effectively for brain cancer since 2013, but it is a newer approach for cancer that's metastasized to the spine.
4. Ian Lee, MD, performed the institute's first SLITT procedure. He learned the procedure from Claudio Tatsui, MD, a Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center neurosurgeon.
5. Jacquelyn Donley, the patient, spoke highly of the procedure and of Dr. Lee. She is recovering well.
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