Radiation to a tumor and to deep brain areas eased severe face pain in one woman
Original title: Simultaneous Tumor and Bilateral Medial Thalamic Radiosurgery for Tumor-Trigeminal Neuralgia With Concomitant Continuous Pain: A Case Report.
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 was done in one person and written up as a single case, so it is not yet tested as a treatment.
The short version
Doctors used a focused type of radiation to treat one woman's severe face pain, and her pain went away within days.
What was studied. This is a report about one patient, a 41-year-old woman. She had a tumor at the base of her skull on the right side that wrapped completely around the nerve that carries feeling from the face. The tumor caused stabbing face pain plus a constant burning pain that medicines did not control.
What they found. Her doctors aimed focused radiation at the tumor and at deep areas on both sides of the brain in the same session. Her pain started to get better within 35 hours. She had no pain by day 6, and the relief lasted through 39 months of follow up.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: For a small number of people whose tumor sits where surgery and the usual pain procedures are unsafe, this may be another option to ask a specialist about. It is worth knowing this approach exists if standard treatments have not worked.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a new treatment is ready or proven. It is a report about one single person, which is the earliest and weakest kind of evidence. What helped one patient may not help others, and the risks in a larger group are not known. The authors themselves say more study is needed. This is not a cure for tumors or for face pain.
Source: PubMed, June 15, 2026 · Read the original
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