Brain Tumor Program

This approach involves closely monitoring a patient’s condition but not giving treatment unless test results indicate the condition is worsening. Active surveillance may be used to avoid or delay treatments such as radiation therapy or surgery.

Surgery may be used in both the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors. Surgical removal of the tumor helps lessen pressure on nearby parts of the brain. Working closely with specialists from University Hospitals Neurological Institute’s Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, our fellowship-trained neurosurgeons utilize the latest advances in surgical intervention to treat brain tumors, including:

• Minimally invasive brain tumor surgery: This type of surgery includes techniques through which our neurosurgeons can view detailed images of the patient’s brain with the use of a small camera.
• Fluorescence-guided surgery: UH Seidman Cancer Center neurosurgeons have pioneered use of special fluorescent markers (such as 5-ALA) to facilitate precise identification of the borders of a brain tumor, helping the surgeon remove more of the tumor while minimizing risk to the brain.
• NeuroBlate®: This revolutionary type of laser interstitial thermal therapy destroys brain tumors with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided laser. UH Seidman Cancer Center is one of only a handful of hospitals in the world to offer this minimally invasive treatment for previously diagnosed untreatable brain tumors.
• Intraoperative MRI: With specialized intraoperative MRI suites, we use magnetic resonance imaging to track surgical progress in real-time

Radiation therapy involves the use of high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or prevent them from growing. Using a machine outside the body, external radiation therapy sends radiation directly toward the area of the tumor. Radiation therapy is often recommended after surgery and may be administered in combination with chemotherapy. For patients who cannot undergo surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used as a primary treatment.

Among the innovative radiation technologies we use in the treatment of brain tumors is:

• GammaTile®: This surgically targeted radiation therapy involves the placement of a bioresorbable, flexible collagen tile within the brain immediately following tumor removal.
• Proton therapy: UH Seidman Cancer Center is the first hospital in Northeast Ohio to offer this innovative, powerful and technologically advanced therapy. Effective for both adults and children, proton therapy has less side effects than other forms of radiation therapy, resulting in better quality of life during treatment, while also reducing patient risk for the development of radiation-induced secondary cancers decades after treatment.

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a type of radiation therapy used to treat brain tumors and other cancers when conventional surgery is not an option due to safety concerns. Stereotactic radiosurgery differs from traditional radiation therapy in that stereotactic radiosurgery involves the use of precisely focused radiation beams. Unlike traditional radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery exposes very little if any normal tissue to radiation.

Stereotactic radiosurgery is often recommended after surgery and may be administered in combination with chemotherapy. For patients who cannot undergo surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery and chemotherapy may be used as a primary treatment.

Innovative stereotactic radiosurgery technologies we use in the treatment of brain tumors include:

• Gamma Knife®: An accurate form of stereotactic radiosurgery for the brain, this technology pinpoints a single area with numerous gamma radiation beams without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.
• Varian Edge™: This advanced, high-focus radiation beam radiosurgery system targets the DNA in cancer cells, destroying the cells. Unlike other radiosurgery systems that require the use of a rigid frame to secure a brain cancer patient’s skull during treatment sessions that can last several hours, Varian Edge delivers equally precise treatment without requiring a frame in as little as just a few minutes.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or preventing their division. When taken orally or injected into a vein or muscle, chemotherapy drugs enter the bloodstream to reach cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). Chemotherapy placed directly into the cerebrospinal fluid is called intrathecal chemotherapy. Regional chemotherapy is when chemotherapy drugs are inserted in an organ, such as the brain, to primarily affect cancer cells in that local area. When suitable, we may use an innovative technique in which thin, circular wafers containing chemotherapy medicine are placed in the brain during surgery. These wafers dissolved slowly to provide the timed release of a medicine that kills cancer cells.

Targeted therapy is an approach to cancer treatment that utilizes drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells. In general, targeted therapies inflict less harm to normal cells than chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Promising targeted therapies for brain tumors include monoclonal antibody therapy, tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor therapy.