New brain surgery technique with the lights off helps tackle tricky brain tumours

ME AND MY OPERATION Brain tumours can be difficult to remove but John Timothy, 49, a businessman and father of one from Epsom, Surrey, underwent a new procedure that can help, as he tells Roger Dobson. 1.6 per cent of all tumours diagnosed in the UK are primary The challenge is that they are often very large and it is impossible to remove the tumour and also take out a safe margin of healthy tissue around its edges because of the significant risk of causing permanent disability, such as limb weakness, loss of speech, vision or memory. Given to patients before the operation in the form of a drink, it is absorbed by brain tumour cells and enables us to see all the tumour, including the edges, during an operation. The trick is that brain tumour cells process 5-ALA differently from the way other cells do, turning it into a compound which causes the tumour cells to glow pink when exposed to blue light. Given to patients before the operation in the form of a drink, it is absorbed by brain tumour cells and enables us to see all the tumour during an operation John was to be awake throughout the three-hour operation.