Brain Tumor Care

Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to kill cancer cells or stop their growth. In brain tumor treatment, chemotherapy can be administered orally or through an IV.

Neurosurgery is a surgical procedure to treat brain tumors. During neurosurgery, doctors remove all or part of the tumor mass while preserving healthy brain tissue. Neurosurgical procedures we offer include endoscopic surgery, fluorescence-guided surgery and 4D endonasal surgery. We also offer traditional and awake craniotomies.

During a craniotomy, neurosurgeons open the skull and access the brain to remove your tumor. During an awake craniotomy, you are given medication so that you don’t feel pain, but you remain awake and alert. This allows neurosurgeons to determine the impact of the procedure on specific brain functions. Our team will do everything possible to avoid incisions on the face. If open surgery is necessary, we strive to keep all incisions behind your hairline.

If you need neurosurgery for your brain tumor, our team will use intraoperative MRI or intraoperative CT during your procedure. This allows our specially trained experts to track brain function during surgery. This monitoring also gives neurosurgeons the ability to re-scan your head, neck and brain to assess whether the entire tumor has been removed, or if more surgery is needed to remove any remaining tumor.

Most patients stay in the hospital for two to five days after brain surgery. Recovery from surgery will depend on the type of brain tumor you have and its location within the brain or skull base. Your recovery will include pain management and may also include some neurorehabilitation, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech therapy.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams to kill cancer cells or stop their growth. Doctors often use radiation therapy after surgery or as the primary treatment for people who cannot have surgery. Our team offers many radiation therapy treatments, including external beam radiation and proton therapy.

Radiosurgery is a form of radiation therapy doctors use to deliver a high dose of radiation to a specific target within the brain. Our team offers the latest radiosurgery treatments, including Gamma Knife® and CyberKnife® radiosurgery.

During targeted drug therapy, doctors use drugs or other substances that specifically target certain molecules or pathways involved in the growth and survival of cancer cells.