Laser therapy extracts rare tumor that grew human hair, skin in boy's skull

About four years ago, a tumor comprised of human skin, hair, bone and cartilage was fast-growing inside a Ramsey, MN, 10-year-old youth's brain (Read More at FOX News).

The BioOptics World take on this story:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided laser ablation therapy, which involves temporarily implanting a device and a laser fiber through a ~1 mm hole and continuously measuring the temperature of the laser energy against the anatomical structures of the brain, can be used to surgically remove a tumor.

Gavin Pierson, 10, of Ramsey, MN, was found to have a rapidly growing rare brain tumor called a teratoma, which is comprised of human skin, hair, bone, and cartilage. The tumor could not be eradicated via chemotherapy because of how deep it was, and palbociclib, an advanced breast cancer drug that has yielded promising results in adult teratoma patients, did not shrink the tumor. But after undergoing multiple rounds of MRI-guided laser ablation therapy, which he finished in June 2016, Gavin is like a regular kid again.