The staff at the Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center are committed to studying and developing the next generation of medical and surgical therapies in addition to providing extraordinary patient care. Research at the Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center involves scientists, neuroscientists, pathologists, physicists and engineers who share a strong bench-to-bedside mission.
A few among the many projects currently under study are:
- Ivy G.B.M. Project: The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has been named one of nine leading institutions to collaborate in the Ivy Genomics-Based Medicine Project grant (Ivy G.B.M. Project), established by the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation (Ivy Foundation), a newly formed family foundation dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients with brain tumors. Read more...
- Gamma Knife surgery protocols
- Chemotherapy protocols
- Image-guidance protocols
- Artificial intelligence software programming for robots
- Photo dynamic therapy to both diagnose and treat tumors
- Immunotherapy with convection enhanced delivery of small molecules
Current Clinical Trials
Play this video to hear Dr. Andrew Sloan discuss a new drug that is helping surgeons locate and remove dangerous brain tumors.
Experimental Drug Helps Surgeons Remove Brain Tumors By Making Cancer Cells Glow Pink
Surgeons at University Hospitals Neurological Institute’s Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center are studying an experimental drug that can help surgeons locate and remove brain tumors more effectively. The drug, 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (5-ALA), is given to patients before surgery and it works by making the cancerous cells glow hot pink. Surgeons then employ a blue light to help them visualize the tumor more clearly, allowing them to remove the tumor from the brain. Center Director Andrew Sloan, MD said if surgeons can remove 95 to 99 percent of the tumor, it can nearly double a patient’s survival. University Hospitals is one of just a few hospitals in the country that is studying the use of 5-ALA for brain tumor surgery.
HSPPC-96 Vaccine With Temozolomide in Patients With Newly Diagnosed GBM
The Phase 2 trial is a single-arm, open label investigation designed to evaluate safety, median survival, and immune response in patients treated with an autologous tumor-derived heat shock protein peptide-complex (HSPPC-96) administered at 25 μg per dose injected intradermally once weekly for 4 consecutive weeks and monthly following standard treatment with radiation and temozolomide.