An MRI scanner used during surgery helped remove more of a returned brain tumor
Original title: The utility of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging in recurrent glioblastoma surgery: A volumetric analysis.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This uses a scanner that some hospitals already have, but the evidence here comes from looking back at past surgeries rather than a head to head trial.
The short version
Scanning the brain in the middle of surgery helped surgeons find and take out tumor they would have otherwise left behind.
What was studied. Doctors looked back at 150 people whose glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary had come back and who had a second surgery between 2015 and 2023. All of them had an MRI scan taken while they were still in the operating room. The team measured how much tumor was left before and after that scan.
What they found. The scan led the surgeons to keep going and remove more tumor in 77% of cases, which was 115 people. Before the scan, 58% of the surgeries had reached the goal amount of removal. After the extra removal, that rose to 85%. In 27% of cases, which was 41 people, the surgery went from falling short to meeting the goal because of the scan.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If your tumor has come back and surgery is being planned, a scan during the operation may help your surgeon take out more of it. In this group, taking out more did not appear to cause more harm to how people moved, spoke, or thought. Short term problems happened in 15% of the people who had extra tissue removed and 16% of those who did not. Lasting problems happened in 2% and 3%. This is something to ask your surgeon about, since not every hospital has this kind of scanner.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a cure, and it does not stop glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary from coming back again. This was not a trial that tested one approach against another. Doctors looked back at records of surgeries that already happened, so it cannot prove the scan itself caused the better results. It also does not mean this scan is right for everyone, or that it is available at your hospital. Removing more tumor is one part of care, not the whole answer.
Source: PubMed, June 30, 2026 · Read the original
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