About the Brain & Spinal Tumor Program

Fox Chase is home to some of the nation’s top brain tumor specialists and support staff – a multidisciplinary team of professionals who work together to diagnose and treat brain and spinal tumors. This team includes physicians and oncology-certified nurses with specialty experience in brain tumors and meets regularly for tumor boards where patient cases and potential treatment options are reviewed.

Brain tumor patients at Fox Chase benefit from the center’s robust research program, with cutting-edge clinical trials offered in surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.  Fox Chase physicians and researchers are influential members of the National Cancer Institute’s NRG Oncology. Fox Chase offers a number of clinical trials and novel treatments that patients with a brain tumor may not otherwise have access to elsewhere.

Conditions treated by brain tumor specialists at Fox Chase Cancer Center include, but are not limited to:

  • Primary brain and spinal tumors
  • Glioblastoma
  • Low and high grade glioma (oligodendroglioma, astrocytoma, oligoastrocytoma)
  • Meningioma  (benign, atypical, anaplastic)
  • Metastatic brain and spinal tumors
  • Acoustic Neuroma
  • Pituitary adenomas
  • Pineal region tumors
  • Ependymoma
  • Anaplastic epyndymoma
  • Subependymomoa
  • Myxopapillary ependymoma
  • Germinioma
  • Hemangioblastoma
  • Craniopharyngioma
  • Medulloblastoma
  • Primintive neuroectodemal tumor (PNET)
  • Paraganglioma
  • Hemangiopericytoma/solitary fibrous tumor
  • Carcinomatosis
  • Leptomeningeal disease
  • Neoplastic meningitis

Our Treatment Approach

Fox Chase offers a wide range of treatment options for individuals with brain tumors, including a number of clinical trials not found at most hospitals. Our multidisciplinary care for brain tumor is provided through our clinical departments:

  • Diagnostic Imaging – The diagnostic imaging team includes board-certified radiologists, nurses and technologists who expertly and compassionately guide patients through the entire imaging process.
  • Hematology/Oncology – Medical oncologists at Fox Chase specialize in systemic therapies that are both currently available and also under investigation through clinical trials. 
  • Medicine – Fox Chase recognizes the importance of treating all the medical problems our patients face, in addition to cancer.  Our department of medicine includes some of the best physicians in the country specializing in endocrinology, dermatology, gastroenterology, internal medicine, physical medicine, psychiatry, and pulmonary medicine. 
  • Pathology – The philosophy of the department of pathology is to provide high quality diagnostic service to foster the clinical and research missions of Fox Chase Cancer Center.
  • Radiation Oncology – Radiation therapists and physicists use innovative methods to provide tailored radiation therapy.
  • Surgical Oncology – Our surgeons are highly skilled in the latest surgical approaches for the treatment of cancer. 

In addition, there are additional aspects of our program to provide complete care for patients with brain tumors.

  • Brain tumor nurse navigators
  • Survivor clinics
  • Pain and palliative care program

See a listing of all of our support services.