The Neuro-Oncology / Brain Tumor Program provides expert, integrated cancer care if you have been diagnosed with brain tumors, cancers that affect the nervous system, or neurologic complications of systemic cancer. Working with our care team you have the benefit of knowing you are receiving care that is:
- Tailored to the genetic characteristics of the tumor
- Supported by a neurosurgical operating room system with real-time, intraoperative MRI/CT and hyperbaric chamber to oxygenate cells to enhance benefits of radiation
Advanced treatments
Center for Surgical Innovation
Our Center for Surgical Innovation is a high-tech pavilion. The Center integrates medical equipment, mechanical systems, and a unique configuration which allows your surgeon to have access to an overhead MRI and CT scanner within a single operating room. The ability to have intraoperative imaging—before, during, and after brain surgery—greatly improves precision and safety. As a patient, you'll benefit from advanced functional imaging which allows for strategic brain tumor biopsy, real-time imaging during resection of brain tumors, and the opportunity to check the brain following surgery.
Florescence-guided neurosurgery
We have been a leading research institution in North America to studying fluorescence-guided neurosurgery, which selectively tags brain tumor tissue with fluorescent dye. This technology allows surgeons to visually identify normal and cancerous tissues to improve the accuracy of tumor removal.
Radiation therapy
With new technology, radiation oncologists use radiation therapy as an alternative to standard surgery.
- Stereotactic radiosurgery with the Trilogy™ system combines high definition X-ray and CT imaging with precise radiation delivery so a radiation oncologist can perform radiosurgery.
- Computer-assisted volumetric resection using OR navigation.
- Computer-assisted stereotactic radiosurgery, together with laser instruments, can help physicians locate and target deep brain tumors more accurately than traditional techniques.
- Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). The most advanced approach, known as 3-D conformal radiation therapy, uses computer-generated images to plan and deliver tightly focused radiation beams to cancerous tumors while preserving healthy brain tissue.
Analyzing molecular pathology of brain tumors
The advanced technology of our molecular pathology laboratory allows our team to perform sophisticated tests to diagnose and characterize brain tumors. Immunohistochemistry, cytogenetic testing, molecular profiling, and genomic sequencing are a standard part of our clinical practice.