FDA approves New Device for Chemo-resistant Brain Cancer

The FDA has approved a new treatment for gliogblastoma brain cancer utilizing electrical energy fields. 

The treatment is approved for more aggressive brain tumors that are resistant to chemotherapy and other treatments.

Brain cancer has been shown to be more prevalent among Gulf War veterans than their non-deployed Gulf War era veteran counterparts, particularly among those who were exposed to low-level sarin, cyclosarin, and likely also mustard gas following a U.S. demolition of chemical warfare agent-containing munitions at an Iraqi bunker complex at Khamisiyah, Iraq in March 1991.

According to a USA Today article, the NovoTTF device, “is a six-pound (2.75-kilogram) device that patients carry with them in a small bag. The electrical current is sent from the device to four electrodes attached to the patient's shaved head.”

Read more:  http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/cancer/story/2011/04/FDA-clears-first-of-a-kind-device-for-brain-cancer/46174922/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

Photos and more info on the device:  http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2011/04/device_for_treatment_of_brain_tumors_wins_fda_clearance.htmla