By Bill Potter 

The neurosurgical oncology team at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center recently debuted a first-in-market tile-based brachytherapy to treat glioblastoma, completing their first surgery in December 2025. Additional surgeries were conducted in January and February of 2026. 

According to the American Cancer Society, glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumor in adults. Because glioblastoma tends to grow quickly and invades deeply into nearby brain tissue, it is difficult to treat and fully eradicate the tumor and cancer cells. The five-year relative survival rate for glioblastoma patients aged 40 or older is six percent. 

The next generation of brachytherapy

Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy designed to immediately deliver radiation to brain tumor sites through an implantable device. Tile-based radiation represents the next generation of brachytherapy to treat cancer. During surgery, neurosurgeons remove the tumor and then line the tumor cavity with a postage stamp-sized patch that is infused with radiation, thereby eschewing the usual four-week waiting period between surgery and radiation treatments that have marked previous therapeutic options.  

Time to radiation is critical to success, with delayed start times for radiation resulting in rapid drop offs in efficacy. Brachytherapy prevents this issue by delivering immediate treatment to improve outcomes and reduce the risk of tumor regrowth. Massey is one of two cancer centers in Virginia to offer this treatment.  

“With aggressive tumors like glioblastoma or brain metastases, you can never eliminate every cancer cell. The delay before radiation effectively gives those remaining cells weeks to recover and grow before treatment resumes,” said Ryan Cleary, M.D., a Massey neurosurgeon at Massey who led the first surgery. “Tile-based brachytherapy allows radiation to be delivered directly to the surgical cavity at the time of surgery, reducing delays and potentially improving outcomes.” 

Tile-based radiation therapy is just one of the many innovative brain cancer treatment options currently offered at Massey, joining awake surgeries for tumor resections, laser ablation and other cutting-edge approaches. 

The future of brain cancer treatment, brachytherapy and clinical trials

Tile-based radiation is currently FDA-cleared for patients with newly diagnosed cancerous brain tumors and patients with recurrent brain tumors. Additional clinical trials are ongoing to further support the effectiveness of tile-based radiation to treat brain cancer.  

Previous iterations of brachytherapy were time consuming and had limited efficacy. 

For Cleary, the potential of tile-based radiation surgery offers promise in the fight against brain cancer.  

“The reality is that the standard of care for glioblastoma has been stagnant and limited for the last 20 years,” Cleary said. “We're in definite need of new technologies and treatment options to push survival out to any meaningful extent.” 

Introducing a new generation of cancer centers. Learn more about VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center’s brain cancer treatments.

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