RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Comprehensive Center has debuted a new first-in-market brachytherapy brain tumor surgery to treat glioblastoma, according to officials. In a press release shared on Monday, March 16, VCU officials said the neurosurgical oncology team introduced the new surgery to treat glioblastoma, completing their first surgery in December 2025. Other surgeries were conducted in January and February 2026. Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy designed to immediately deliver radiation to brain tumor sites through an implantable device -- with tile-based radiation representing the next generation of brachytherapy to treat cancer, potentially improving outcomes, per a release. “With aggressive tumors like glioblastoma or brain metastases, you can never eliminate every cancer cell. The delay before radiation effectively gives those remaining cells weeks to recover and grow before treatment resumes," said Ryan Cleary, a neurosurgeon at Massey who led the first surgery. "Tile-based brachytherapy allows radiation to be delivered directly to the surgical cavity at the time of surgery, reducing delays and potentially improving outcomes." Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumor in adults and tends to grow quickly and invade deeply into nearby brain tissue. The five-year relative survival rate for glioblastoma patients aged 40 or older is 6% percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Tile-based radiation therapy is currently Food and Drug Administration-cleared for patients with newly diagnosed malignant tumors and is one of the many innovative brain cancer treatment options currently offered at Massey. Others include awake surgeries for tumor resections and laser ablation. “The reality is that the standard of care for glioblastoma has been stagnant and limited for the last 20 years," Clear said in a release. "We're in definite need of new technologies and treatment options to push survival out to any meaningful extent." ...read more read less