Brain Tumors

Whether you've been told that your brain tumor is malignant or benign, you want and deserve the best possible care for this important organ. At MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, we have the only dedicated neuro-oncologists in South Carolina. Our multi-disciplinary neuro-oncology team integrates the expertise of neurosurgeons, neurologists, radiation oncologists, critical care neurointensivists and a specialized nursing staff to provide the most advanced care available.

As an NCI-designated cancer center, Hollings is dedicated to advancing knowledge of cancer care. We offer numerous brain tumor clinical trials in addition to our expert care. As a result, you have access to extraordinary care close to home.

Conditions treated at Hollings include:

What are brain tumors? | Symptoms | Treatment | Childhood Brain Tumors | Clinical Trials | Specialized Care | Care Locations | Latest News

What are brain tumors? Are they the same as brain cancer?

Brain and spinal cord tumors, also called central nervous system (CNS) tumors, happen when cells start to grow out of control. Not all brain tumors are cancer. Some are benign, or non-cancerous. Others are malignant, or cancerous.

Cancerous brain tumors may be primary tumors, which means the cancer started in the cells in the brain, or they may be metastatic, which means that a cancer that started elsewhere in the body, like lung, breast or kidney cancer, has spread into the brain.

Whether the tumor is benign or malignant, it should be monitored by a neuro-oncologist, a doctor who specializes in brain tumors. Even benign brain tumors can cause problems, because they can grow and squeeze healthy brain tissue, causing the same symptoms as cancerous brain tumors.

The majority of central nervous system tumors are brain tumors. Spinal cord tumors are rare.

Brain tumor symptoms

Symptoms of a brain or CNS tumor will depend on where the tumor is, because different parts of your brain control different activities. A tumor growing along your spinal cord or along peripheral nerves elsewhere in your body will cause different symptoms. Potential symptoms include:

• Personality changes
• Confusion or memory problems
• Problems with walking, balance or normal daily activities
• Drowsiness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Problems with eyesight, hearing or speaking
• Headache. Most headaches are not brain tumors, but headaches that go away after vomiting, are worse in the morning, have gotten worse recently or are accompanied by vision problems could be a sign of a brain tumor.
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Tingling or inability to feel sensations like pain, heat or cold in the extremities (hands and feet)

Brain tumor treatment

Neuro-oncology requires close collaboration among many highly specialized physicians, including neurosurgeons, neurologists, oncologists, radiation oncologists, otolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat specialists), rhinologists (nose specialists), radiologists and pathologists, depending on the location of the tumor, as well as specialized nursing staff and a research team to shepherd clinical trials.

At Hollings, our neuro-oncology team holds weekly tumor board meetings to discuss cases and get opinions from doctors with these different specialties, ensuring that treatment options are considered from all perspectives. In addition, the team includes pharmacists, physical therapists and speech therapists who specialize in working with people with brain tumors.

Access to clinical trials is an important part of treatment — clinical trials may offer access to new treatments that could be better than current treatments and that could become the standard of care in the future. At Hollings, we offer brain tumor clinical trials geared toward a variety of situations. Ask your doctor whether there might be a clinical trial that’s right for your situation.

Possible treatments include:

Surgery for brain tumors

Surgery is the primary treatment for many types of brain tumors. The goal is to remove as much of the tumor as possible.

Tumor Treating Fields

Hollings offers the Optune Gio device, which creates electrical fields, also called tumor treating fields, that interfere with glioblastoma cancer cell division. The device is worn on the head and can be hidden, if you prefer, by a hat or scarf. It has been shown to improve survival both for patients who are newly diagnosed and have completed initial treatment and for patients whose cancer has returned.

Chemotherapy for brain tumors

Chemotherapy drugs interfere with processes that are necessary for cancer cells to survive, like replication or DNA repair. There are a limited number of chemotherapy drugs that can be used for brain tumors because the blood-brain barrier protects the brain from most substances circulating in the bloodstream.

To avoid the blood-brain barrier, chemotherapy can be delivered directly into the brain by inserting small wafers of the drug carmustine into the area where the tumor was removed. This is done as part of surgery. Gliadel Wafers are approved for specific cases of high-grade glioma and recurrent glioblastoma.

Targeted therapy for brain tumors

Like chemotherapy, targeted therapies are drugs. Unlike chemotherapy, targeted therapies attack a target that is specific to a tumor instead of a function that happens on both normal and cancer cells. This means the damage to normal cells is limited. The tumor must have the specific genetic mutation that the targeted therapy is primed for in order for you to benefit from the drug.

Radiation therapy for brain tumors

Gamma Knife

Hollings utilizes an Elekta Esprit Gamma Knife, the most advanced, precise stereotactic radiosurgery system available. This system uses 192 beams of radiation to pinpoint brain tumors within 0.3 mm of accuracy.

This outpatient procedure is primarily used for metastatic brain cancer — when melanoma or cancer of the lungs, breast or kidneys travels to the brain. Treating the brain metastases improves quality of life. You may also become eligible for clinical trials for your primary cancer once the brain metastases are treated.

Gamma Knife is also used for primary brain tumors, certain benign tumors such as meningiomas, and other neurological problems.

GammaTile

GammaTile is a radioactive wafer that is inserted in the brain after a tumor is removed. This is done as part of the surgery. The GammaTile gives off radiation to a small area surrounding the tumor location to kill any tumor cells too small for the surgeon to see. It takes about six weeks for the majority of the radiation to be delivered. This treatment is approved for a variety of brain tumors.

Hollings has achieved Elite GammaTile Center status, the first center in South Carolina to do so. This status indicates our center's experience with this device.

External Beam Radiation Therapy

This therapy is often used for primary brain tumors. It consists of a short daily treatment given over the course of several weeks. Hollings uses IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy) as well as IGRT (image-guided radiation therapy) to ensure that the radiation targets the tumor and avoids treating normal healthy tissue. This treatment is available at our main location on the Charleston peninsula and in Mount Pleasant.

Refer a brain tumor patient

To refer a brain tumor patient to Hollings, please call patient referral coordinator Kelly Fehr at 843-985-0577.

Nurse navigator support

Our brain tumor nurse navigator, Janequa McKnight, BSN, RN, will help you understand what to expect during treatment and answer questions you may have.

Clinical trials for brain tumors

Clinical trials help us to find better treatments. A clinical trial might be testing whether a treatment is more effective or has fewer side effects or could be looking for biomarkers that would help doctors to better match treatments to specific patients.

Clinical trials are especially important for people with brain tumors. Sometimes, they can offer a chance for a promising treatment option before it’s widely available. Our team works diligently to ensure that we have an array of clinical trials available.

Hollings has been a member of the Brain Tumor Trials Collaborative since its inception. This collaboration among 33 institutions across the country develops and runs clinical trials investigating treatments for a variety of brain tumors.

In addition, Hollings is a member of several other collaborative research groups, such as the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, SWOG and the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), and works with industry partners to bring clinical trials here. This means that you will have access to the latest therapies for brain tumors right here in South Carolina.

Learn more about clinical trials at Hollings and see our current brain tumor clinical trials.

Specialized multidisciplinary care

Our teams collaborate across departments and divisions to ensure the highest quality of care. By implementing the latest advancements, Hollings offers what few others in the state can.

Latest brain tumor news