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August 19, 2025 • 12 mins
Dr. Courtney Hentz of OHC talks about GammaKnife treatment for brain cancer patients.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
One more time for the nine first one to weatherforle cast.
That's gonna be hot today with the high ninety two,
some rain showing up, maybe storms after five pm, and
it'll be humid seventy one over night, muggy tomorrow eighty
three for the high. Little improvement there, mostly cloudy sky
sixty seven over nine and finally for Thursday, a seasonally
accurate eighty one degrees with partly clotty skies right now

(00:23):
closing out at seventy one Degree's time for final traffic.
Chuck Ingram from.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
The use of Traffic Center. Nearly sixty percent of Americans
waiting on an organ transplant are from multicultural communities. Give
the gift of life, become an organ donor, or explore
living donation at UC health dot com. Slash Transplant crews
continue to work with the wreck. Southbound seventy five at
the Reagan Highway left sides block traffic backs up through Wachland.

(00:48):
Northbound seventy five continued slow from Burlington Pike into town.
Schuck Ingram Mon fifty five, KROC the talk station, Hey
forty four.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Or fifty talk station, A very happy Tuesday to you.
Oh I love when the doctor's from OHC come in
to the studio talk about all these advancements and treatments.
Give me great optimism about treatment for cancer. We will
find a cure thanks to the good people at OHC
and their clinical trials and all the other researching been
going on out there. Like have Welcome to the firty
five KRC Morning Show, doctor Courtney Hence brain cancer and

(01:21):
of course precision matters when you're trying to deal with
brain cancer. Apparently one of the most advanced treatments out
there is called gamma knife radio surgery, which I'm reading now,
non invasive procedure, highly targeted radiation to burn to brain tumors,
and OHC the only provider of gamma knife treatment in
our region. So doctor Courtney Hens a radiation oncologist and

(01:42):
one of the great doctors at OHC and one of
the expert physicians that does this life changing procedure. Doctor Hens,
great to see him. Thanks for coming to the studio today.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
So you guys are at cutting edge. How this isn't
it really a knife?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
No, it's not. It's a very focused kind of radiation
that we give to tumors in the brain. No knife
at all, no cutting, no incisions, and it's a great
way to deliver high doses of radiation to tumors to
try to kill them off.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
So unlike the old way where you just sort of
nuke the entire body, this allows you to concentrate that
radiation to one spot.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yes, that's right. It's very precise. We're talking down to
the millimeter, and it allows us to give very high
doses to our targets while sparing the normal, healthy brain
tissue around it.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
How quickly does this work? I mean, how quick is
the result?

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Typically we're rescanning, We're repeating an MRI on patients anywhere
two to three months after sometimes a little longer depending
on what we're treating, and usually by that first scan
we're already seeing results.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
No kidding, Yeah, it's great. How many treatments does a
person normally have to undergo to deal with I guess
in many cases twomors as opposed to eat tumor or
it works in both cases.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
Sure. So. The most common treatment that I offer patients
is when they're cancer has started somewhere else in the
body and has spread to the brain metastas tepees and
usually those lesions are quite small, so we can take
care of them with radiosurgery, and generally the most common
way to give it is over one treatment, really one

(03:17):
day outpatient procedure. We work very closely with our neurosurgical
colleagues at Mayfield Brain and Spine and through our collaboration
with Mercy Health at Jewish Hospital where we deliver the treatment.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Well, that's great. Now, I don't want to deviate from
the brain tumor issue here. It's very important. Clearly, can
that gamma knife be used for the other cancers that
have caused them metastasize the brain cancer.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
That's a good question. So gamma knife radiosurgery is only
used in the brain, sometimes the upper spine. But there
are other very similar versions of radiation called radiosurgery that
we can deliver with our other radiation treatment machines that
can do a very similar process to other spots.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
So there's another vehicle to do the same kind of thing.
So we're still not nuking the entire body and radiating
everything and glowing the dark kind of stuff. That's good now,
I mean success rate. Before we I'm going to ask
you about the symptom or the actually the kind of
some of the problems that go along with it, like
risks and that. But in terms of success rate, we're

(04:21):
treating the brain, cancers, the tumors. What are you seeing
in this?

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, So in general, when we're treating small lesions, which
is the most common thing we treat with this, success
rates of control are ninety percent plus, so very high.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah, oh that's amazing. So what about side effects? We
all know about chemotherapy and all that and what it does.
Hair falls out, you're weak, you vomit, just it's a
nasty experience I have to go through. I presume that
you don't have any of that with this kind of treatment.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Thankfully, with how precise the treatments are, the side effect
profile is very low. So the day of the treatment,
patients can feel tired and sometimes a couple of days thereafter,
but rare. Are they having additional side effects like other
neurologic issues headaches, seizures, very rarely, and we do things
to keep those side effects very low.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Well, and is it safe to call this non invasive?
There's no cutting, there's no absolutely.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah. So, despite the confusing name of gamma knife, no
knives involved, no incisions, it's an outpatient procedure typically done
in one day and patients go home, and I've had
plenty of patients return to work the following day.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
And so side effects, I'm headaches, fatigue, not that big
of a deal. So I don't want to thankfully understated
for someone like I had gammon knife. They'll tell me
it's not that big of a deal. So who's eligible
for this treatment? I mean, this is like, this is new.
I mean we're talking new treatment.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, so gamma knife has been around for some time,
but we keep getting better and better about how precise
we can give the treatments and spare the normal healthy
brain tissue. So patients who are eligible come in that
I see are those with brain metastases, so again, cancer
that has spread from somewhere else to the brain, where
we're trying to only target those lesions themselves. So it

(06:11):
depends a little bit on what kind of cancer it is,
how large or small the lesions are, And sometimes cancers
that have started in the brain or primary brain tumors
can be eligible for a gamma knife, but more commonly
those are treated with another form of radiation, and these
are gamma knife is a great treatment for lesions and

(06:32):
hard to reach areas where surgery is not indicated.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Okay, because you can see them on like an image,
you know exactly and get deep into I presume all
of this is computer operated. You can focus exactly where
that little tumor happens to be.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
So yep, absolutely all right.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Now, I've been speaking and supporting the cure starts now
for about more than a decade. The story behind how
that got started as such a heartbreaker. You got this
five year old girl who dies geoblastoma, and there's not
a lot of research on it because it's so deadly,
it happens so quickly. Is there any hope that this
kind of treatment maybe can be expanded to go after

(07:09):
that type of brain cancer?

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, So we actually do use gammonife radiosurgery sometimes in
glea blasphemas more commonly, the first step of treatment for
those is a longer, more protracted radiation course. But you know,
if it recurs or comes back depending on where and when.
Sometimes we are bringing this method in to treat just

(07:31):
the small areas where it's trying to come back. With
good control results of.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
That, okay, and considering this as a developing technique or
practice or treatment. Do you see it expanding down the
road to deal with more types of cancers like other
solid cancers, because you know, I mean this sounds miraculous right.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Now, absolutely so in a good way. Our cancer patients
are living longer, yeah, with great systemic therapy options, immuno therapy,
and so as patients live longer, they pop up with
new spots that if it's just one or two spots,
we use this very focused version of radiation, whether it's

(08:08):
in the brain or elsewhere in the body, to control
the quote problem child that's trying to grow through therapy.
So radiation used in conjunction with their systemic therapy options
are absolutely helping patients stay alive longer and stay on
their therapy that they're otherwise tolerating.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well, all right, well, and I think you may have
already dressed this with your comments about the other subject
of questions I asked. But in terms of recovery time
and everything is just as light years ahead of traditional surge.
I mean, because sure, brain surgery, you know you're going
into the skull, you're digging. You just have this horror
show people digging around in my brain and trying to
ferret something out, especially when you're talking about real teeny

(08:47):
weeny little cancers, leaving a surgeon to sort of find
it in spite of all the images and everything they
might have. That's a bit of a crapshoot in and
of itself, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, And our neurosurgeons that we work with are excellent
in their craft, and they actually are very involved in
the radiation planning and treatments for these gamma knife procedures,
and their recovery for patients compared to traditional surgeries in general,
is much faster. Again, it's typically done in one day,

(09:17):
maybe even a half a day, and they're going home
that same day and back to feeling relatively normal that
following day.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Now, this gammon knife is not considered experimental. I mean,
this is standard of care level stuff. Now, So this
isn't a clinical trial setting, is it.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
No? Absolutely, it's standard of care for small metastases in
the brain as long as there are not too many
and we can appropriately target all the small ones there
and sometimes even if there are more larger ones, we
can treat it. Instead of doing it over one treatment,
it might be as many as five treatments.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Okay, but still I'm going with the optimistic note on this.
This is just amazing stuff, and it's always amazing at OHC.
These are my cancer doctors. I've put my health and
my life in their hands. I've gotten wonderful treatment there,
and I've recommended them for years because if you treat
my other if the other cancer sufferers like you treat me,
they're in great hands. So get in touch with OHC.

(10:14):
If you have a cancer diagnosis, you want a second opinion,
or you need to speak with a cancer doctor, give
them a shout at eight eight eight six forty eight
hundred eight eight eight sixty four nine forty eight hundred,
or visit the website learn a lot more there. It's
ohcare dot comohcare dot com. You're in great hands, doctor Courtney. Hence,
it is a real pleasure meeting you. What an exciting

(10:35):
treatment option for folks dealing with probably one of the
more problematic cancers, brain cancer. This is great stuff.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, well, thank you so much for letting me speak
about the wonderful treatment option we have for patients.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
I love it gives me hope and optimism for the
future every time. That's why I love having you in here.
Ohhcare dot com folks, you didn't get a chance to
listen live early in the program Bring him account our
energy expert. He was in for several segments talking about
energy policy. Guys broke at what he does get the
podcast fifty five kr sea dot com of course the
Insight Scoop with Alexmarlow, editor in chief there Breitbart on

(11:06):
his new book, Breaking the Law, exposing the weaponization of
America's legal system against Donald Trump. Scary stuff, although it's
very optimistic in the book, there is still hope out
there for everybody. And finally, Daniel Davis Deep Dive caught
him off guard in the car, but we first got
his insight and his analysis of the current situation involving
the negotiations for peace between Russia and Ukraine. Call me

(11:29):
Jada and Senecal. Yes that's a okay. But what we
get every week with Daniel Davis Deep Dive fifty five
krsee dot com. Don't forget to download your iHeartMedia app
when you're there, get the podcasts and stream the content
whatever you happen to want from the iHeartMedia Well, infinite
amount of content. Fifty five krs dot com have a
great day. Tune in tomorrow. I will not be here
Gary Jeff Walker's covering for me, going to go out

(11:50):
to a concert tonight, so I'm gonna be up late,
having a good time and sleeping in tomorrow. So Gary Jeff,
thank you if you're out there, appreciate your covering for me.
The return of Joe Strekker, and thanks as always to
Sean McMahon covering the show for Joe Strecker taking a
few days off. Have a great day, folks. Don't go
weg Glenbex Coming up next. President Trump made clear that
a peaceful resolution was possible if I Ran agreed to

(12:10):
give up its nuclear weapons ambitions. Another updates at the
top of the hour fifty five krs. The talk station
this report

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