HCA Midwest Health
October 04, 2016

Dr Amandeep Kalra

Between the headache and the spotty vision in her right eye, Traci Montes knew something was not right. She sought treatment in November, thinking it was just another sinus headache.

Around Thanksgiving, Montes was diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM), a malignant brain tumor in the left hemisphere of her brain. She began chemotherapy after having it surgically removed, but soon after, her oncologist presented her with another treatment option.

"The week of Thanksgiving, I was actually in the hospital,” she said. “They removed most of (the tumor), and the MRIs came back clean. I’ve been really lucky."

Dr Amandeep Kalra, a neuro-oncology medical director with HCA Midwest Health’s Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, wrote Montes a prescription for a recently approved technology to slow tumor growth.

Optune, a device using an array of strategically placed electrodes on the head, interrupts the cycle of cancer cells, Kalra said.

"The current flows from one electrode to another. It slows down and stops the growth of cancer cells,” he said. “It will just slow down the progression."

Read full story (via KC Business Journal)


Brain Tumor Treatment