"FDA Approves Optical Imaging Agent To Assist In Resection Of High-Grade Glioma"
The FDA approved aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride as an optical imaging agent indicated for patients with gliomas as an adjunct for the visualization of malignant tissue during surgery. Patients take the oral compound 3 hours before undergoing surgery, so the drug reaches the brain tumor and is metabolized into a fluorescent form to enable fluorescence-guided surgery, according to Costas Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, chair of the department of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. “One of the biggest challenges with resecting malignant brain tumors is that they’re infiltrative,” said Dr. Hadjipanayis, who was the first to use the product in 2011 and who oversaw clinical trials leading to the drug’s approval. “Any technology that allows us to visualize the tumor in real time and permit us to safely resect the tumor and differentiate it from the real brain is a game changer,” Hadjipanayis added.
- Constantinos Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, Site Chair, Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Professor, Neurosurgery, Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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