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UAB Callahan Eye Hospital Performing Cutting-Edge Genetic Therapy for Eye Disease Only Hospital in the Southeast By Steve SPencer
The UAB Callahan Eye Hospital has been named as one of only 14 treatment sites for Spark® Therapeutics’ LUXTURNA®, the first FDAapproved gene therapy treatment for Leber congenital amaurosis, an eye disease that results from mutations in both copies of the RPE65 gene. This condition, which can only be confirmed by genetic testing, causes patients to begin losing vision in their first five years of life and gets worse as they age. Drs. Jason Crosson and Richard Feist Jr. of Retina Consultants of Ala-
Vials of LUXTURNA
bama will perform the procedure for Callahan. The surgeons insert a functioning copy of the RPE65 gene under the retina via a non-lethal virus. It is a precise operation, requiring one surgeon to position the needle and hold it in place while the other surgeon injects the virus containing the gene. Leber congenital amaurosis is an extremely rare condition, occurring in two to three per 100,000 newborns. It was chosen because the RPE65 mutation occurs naturally in a breed of dog called Briard, making it easier to conduct animal studies. UAB Callahan is the only location in the southeast. The two nearest loca-
tions are Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami and Baylor in Houston. Dawn DeCarlo, OD, PhD, who serves as the Director of the UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation, has several patients who traveled to get the treatment before Callahan was chosen as a site. “I had two sisters from Alabama who traveled to Texas,” she said. “Their visual ability has basically doubled since the procedure. Before the treatment, as soon as it started to get dark they would go inside because they couldn’t see. Now they can stay out at night. They recently saw fireworks for the first time. They’re cheerleaders and now they can go to cheer practice (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
Ascension St. Vincent’s East New CT Tech Improves Tumor Targeting By laura FreeMan
Up, down, left, right—pitch and pivot to the optimum angle—advances in CT innovation have mastered spatial coordinates for cancer detection, radiation planning and treatment. Now precision timing is enhancing accuracy for the Cancer Treatment Center at Ascension St. Vincent’s East. The center’s new Varian TrueBeam Linear Accelerator is one of only three in Alabama. The system’s nextgeneration hardware and software track the micromovements of breath-
ing to deliver radiation only when the patient is in the optimum position. This is particularly helpful in treating cancers in the lungs, breast and torso where immobilization devices aren’t able to prevent small changes in position as the lungs expand to take in air and contract to release it. “With precision down to less than a millimeter, this system makes it possible for us to deliver higher doses of radiation for maximum effectiveness while protecting more healthy tissue and minimizing side effects,” radiation oncologist Laura Dover, MD, said. “This also allows us to complete
the course of treatment sooner. Patients who have had radiation before are usually surprised and pleased to find they will be finished with fewer appointments than they expected, particularly those who have to travel a long distance or take time off work to schedule treatments.” The CT system is designed to combine diagnostic imaging with mapping and planning capabilities that are used to guide radiation delivery. It’s an all-in-one place, in one system. “When a malignancy is detected, we pinpoint its location and begin (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
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