CancerCARE Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS

Taking advantage of a 12-year history of providing the most innovative treatment for patients with brain tumors, physicians in three departments of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital have joined together to expand the service.

At the new Jefferson Multidisciplinary Brain Tumor Center, patients can meet with a radiation oncologist, a neurosurgeon and a medical oncologist—all at one location and during one visit.

“The strength of our program has always been that we have been seeing patients together informally,” said Walter J. Curran, Jr., M.D., professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Clinical Director of Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center. “Now, by seeing patients together, we can often come up with a global care plan in just a few minutes. This is most beneficial as sometimes, a delay in treatment would be detrimental to the patient.”

“Jefferson is the leading center in our region for radiosurgery,” explains David Andrews, M.D., professor of Neurosurgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “As radiosurgery requires a multidisciplinary team approach, having specialists and the patient in the same place makes seamless and coordinated care for all involved. It also avoids so much of the confusion when the patients are forced to search for different specialists.”

“More and more patients with brain tumors are coming to Jefferson from longer distances,” explained Robert Enck, M.D., professor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. “At the Jefferson Multidisciplinary Brain Tumor Center, they also have access to the latest protocols.”

Knowing about protocols is essential to many brain tumor patients as a treatment plan is developed with their team of specialists. A variety of innovative clinical trials are available at the Jefferson Multidisciplinary Brain Tumor Center for most patients with brain tumors.

For information about the Jefferson Multidisciplinary Brain Tumor Center, call 1-800-JEFF-NOW.