Adapting Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy for the Treatment of Naturally Occurring Intracranial Tumors in Dogs

Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is a minimally invasive surgical intervention permitting thermal ablation of intracranial targets such as tumors, radiation necrosis, or epileptogenic brain, including lesions that are deep, difficult to access, or recurrent that would otherwise have few viable surgical options. Despite its advantages, LITT has several limitations, including a restricted effective treatment zone (approximately 3 cm) and a limited ability to distinguish tumor margins from healthy brain tissue. Few viable animal models of appropriate size exist for studying LITT's impact on these disorders or for optimizing the technology and obviating its current limitations. Pet dogs develop these same disorders at similar rates to humans. We hypothesized that LITT could be made feasible in dogs, creating a unique model for in vivo LITT research and development.

Canine cadaveric specimens and live dogs, including canine patients with spontaneously occurring intracranial gliomas, were used in this study. Commercially available equipment was used for neuronavigation (Curve, Brainlab) and to perform LITT (NeuroBlate, Monteris Medical).

Canine cadavers and two end-of-life laboratory dogs allowed adaptation of the neuronavigation and LITT systems to dogs, with successful targeting and ablation of intracranial targets. Four canine patients with intracranial gliomas were subsequently successfully treated with these same technologies.

This work establishes a unique canine model for in vivo LITT research and development using commercially available systems, as well as creating a viable cutting-edge therapeutic intervention for pet dogs with intracranial lesions.