Celebrating 40 years of pioneering Gamma Knife care
18 September 2025
Press contact | Claudia Blake claudia.blake@nhs.net
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is celebrating a significant milestone in care as its National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery marks 40 years of delivering life-saving Gamma Knife radiation treatments.
The National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery, based at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, made medical history on the 18th September 1985 when it became the first centre in the UK, and only the third in the world, to successfully treat a patient with pioneering stereotactic Gamma Knife surgery.
The patient, a young girl, was treated for an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) – an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in the brain prone to haemorrhage, which can cause devastating neurological damage or death.
Gamma Knife radiosurgery offers a minimally invasive, often single-session treatment that can effectively manage AVMs.
Forty years later, the Centre remains an internationally renowned leader in delivering the minimally invasive, precisely targeted treatment to patients with brain tumours and other rare conditions of the brain.
To date it has treated over 21,000 individual patients and delivered nearly 25,000 individual treatments.
A global leader in care
In 2023 the Centre reaffirmed its position as a global leader in advancing Gamma Knife treatments and care, becoming the first in the world to begin using the newest next-generation Gamma Knife technology. The Elekta Esprit targets the smallest and most challenging brain tumours or lesions using a focused radiation system with 192 focused beams to deliver treatments with pinpoint accuracy while protecting healthy brain tissue.
Despite the name, there is no knife or traditional surgery involved in Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Instead, a team of highly skilled neurosurgeons, radiographers, medical physicists and clinical technologists use three-dimensional computer imaging to deliver multiple focused beams of gamma radiation to defined areas of the brain with pinpoint accuracy. This highly targeted radiation destroys the target without damaging nearby healthy tissue.
Most patients are able to have Gamma Knife treatment as a day case procedure and can return to normal activities the next day.
Patients hail life-saving treatment
Paula Hunter, who lives in Rotherham, was diagnosed with a meningioma, a common brain tumour that starts in the meninges, the brain’s protective layers in July 2020.
Due to the location of the tumour, conventional brain surgery was not an option – and she prepared to undergo Gamma Knife radiosurgery, with the procedure taking a total of 51 minutes as a daycase.
“I was scared, but the team prepared me very well. I’m a worrier anyway, but it was either live with the consequences. I could have been paralysed or lost my life without it.”
Today, Paula’s tumour is stable, and she credits the Gamma Knife radiosurgery with saving her life.
“The difference it has made to my life has been massive. It’s been revolutionary because if I had not had it done, I would have been waiting for the inevitable. I’m eternally grateful for the creation of Gamma Knife surgery and to the team at the unit. I forever count my blessings.”
Fellow patient Ellen Beardmore, 38, underwent Gamma Knife surgery thirteen years ago after a routine eye check-up led to the discovery of a large tumour in her brain. Although the tumour was benign, its location and proximity to the facial nerve meant a complete surgical resection carried a significant risk of facial paralysis, and she underwent a 13-hour craniotomy.
However, surgeons deliberately left a small remnant of the tumour to preserve function – a common strategy in large or complex cases such as this, with Gamma Knife surgery needed to prevent regrowth and control the residual tumour whilst also protecting healthy adjacent structures in the brain.
Fast forward a decade and Ellen, who is now happily married and mum to a school-aged daughter, thanked the team for saving her life:
“We are so lucky in Sheffield to have this pioneering service on our doorstep. I have so much gratitude and amazement for the hospital and the surgeons. Every time I go past the Royal Hallamshire Hospital I say thank you.”
Before Gamma Knife radiosurgery, conditions like those faced by Paula and Ellen were often deemed inoperable.
A worldwide legacy
Thanks to the groundbreaking work of the Sheffield team, Gamma Knife treatment is now available in over 360 centres worldwide and is considered a minimally invasive first-line therapy for many brain conditions including benign and malignant tumours, such as ocular melanomas and brain metastases, vascular abnormalities like arteriovenous malformations, and functional disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia, which causes severe facial pain.
There are currently four centres in England delivering the full range of stereotactic radiosurgery treatments, with Sheffield being the largest.
Mr Julian Cahill, Consultant in Neurosurgery/Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Clinical Director at the National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Sheffield took an incredible leap in 1985 when it became the first in the UK to offer pioneering Gamma Knife surgery to patients with cancer and other brain disorders. Today, Gamma Knife treatment is available in over 360 centres worldwide, offering vital hope for patients facing complex, high-risk conditions where conventional surgery offers limited solutions.
“Our investment in subsequent generations of Gamma Knife platforms has also ensured that Sheffield has been consistently at the forefront of advances in care and we remain a global leader in the field, refining techniques and shaping international standards. Advances in other areas of treatment, including cancer care, mean many patients go on to live healthy and fulfilling lives and as we celebrate 40 years since that first historic treatment, we reflect not only on the past but also on what lies ahead and our commitment to better outcomes for patients.”
There are currently six neurosurgical consultants based at the National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery who contribute to the day-to-day treatment of patients supported by seven physics staff, 16 therapeutic radiographers, including support workers and seven administration staff. Together they treat over 1,200 patients a year, largely as a daycase unit but with the support of the specialist neurosurgical team where appropriate.
ENDS
