Neuro-oncology

The UT Southwestern's Brain Tumor Collaboration Program/Center is composed of the following care center areas on the UT Southwestern campus: The Annette G. Strauss Center for Neuro-oncology, The Pituitary and Endocrine Center, The Center for Skull Base Surgery, The UT Southwestern Radiosurgery Center and The Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. The collaboration is supported by the Departments of Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology, Medicine Oncology, Endocrinology, and Otolaryngology.  The Program diagnoses and treats malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord, as well as tumors and other cancer-related neurological disorders of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

UT Southwestern’s patient-centered multidisciplinary approach gives patients access to physicians and other health-care providers from the fields of neurology, neurological surgery, radiation oncology, neuro-oncology, neuropathology, neuro-radiology, rehabilitation medicine, neuro-psychiatry, nursing and social work. The health care professionals from the various treating services at UT Southwestern formally meet once a week to discuss each patient’s condition and coordinate their care

At UT Southwestern, patients have immediate access to physicians who are recognized both regionally and nationally for their expertise in treating brain tumors with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. At the Zale Lipshy University Hospital, physicians in the Department of Neurosurgery perform over 400 operations each year on patients with benign and malignant brain tumors, more than are performed in any other hospital in north Texas. For those patients whose tumors require treatment in addition to surgery, and for those seeking alternatives to surgery, physicians in the Department of Radiation Oncology offer advanced technology, including the Gamma Knife and the Cyberknife. UT Southwestern provided over 300 radiation treatments last year for brain tumor patients. For those patients with malignant tumors that require chemotherapy, physicians in the Simmons Cancer Center are highly experienced in the administration of proven cancer drugs and offer access to clinical trials of new cancer treatments.  These physicians work closely with each other, and with experts from other departments on the UT Southwestern campus, to find the safest and most effective treatment for each patient.   

Tumors of the spine and spinal cord are treated at Southwestern by a team of neurosurgeons who have interest and experience in microsurgically removing these lesions while preserving function and stability and providing reconstruction if necessary afterward. Approximately sixty patients per year with spinal or spinal cord tumors are cared for by our neurosurgeons, the largest volume of intra-spinal tumors in North Texas. While most of these tumors are benign and can be completely removed surgically, some are malignant and require additional treatment after surgery, for example, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.

The Annette G. Strauss Center for Neuro-oncology, the cornerstone of UT Southwestern’s neurological cancer research, is dedicated to improving available treatments – on an inpatient and outpatient basis – as well as to conducting research aimed at a better understanding of cancer of the central nervous system, including benign and malignant brain tumors and spinal-cord tumors. Through UT Southwestern’s membership in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, both funded through the National Cancer Institute, and the Children's Oncology Group and Brain Tumor Trials Collaboration, multidisciplinary cancer professionals on staff at the center strive to improve treatments through innovative clinical research trials. They focus on projects aimed at creating new treatments for childhood and adult brain malignancies, as well as at improving existing ones. Exciting discoveries from these clinical trials are routinely being translated into reality at the patient’s bedside.

The Pituitary and Endocrine Center has a focus on tumors of the pituitary gland area such as Pituitary adenomas and craniopharyngiomas. The Center has specialists in opthamology, the management of hormone evaluation, replacement therapy, medical and surgical management of pituitary tumors. Last year UT Southwestern performed 59 pituitary tumor surgeries and saw over 100 in the clinic system. This vast experience benefits each patient. Dr's Bruce Mickey, Kevin Morrill and Christopher Madden provide the neurosurgical support with Dr Barbara Schultz from otolaryngology. Dr. Richard Auchus from endocrinology assists with assessing and following patients hormone needs. Along with minimally invasive approaches to surgery (through the nose or from the under the upper lip) the Center has access to the Gamma Knife for tumors which are appropriate for non invasive treatment.

The Center for Skull Base Surgery is supported by Dr's Bruce Mickey, Christopher Madden and Babu Welch from the Department of neurosurgery and Dr. Brandon Isaacson from otolaryngology.  The center utilizes the latest technology including image guided surgery approaches and deals with tumors of the base of the skull that require a precise surgical plan and approach. Conditions treated include skull based meningiomas, chordomas, acuistic neuromas, ....

The UT Southwestern Radiosurgery Center utilizes the Gamma Knife and CyberKnife technology for precise millimeter accuracy for treatment of tumors in difficult to reach areas of for recurrent tumors that have been treated with XRay therapy before. The center is supported ny Dr's Bruce Mickey, Tony Whitworth, Christopher Madden and Kevin Morrill from neurosurgery and Dr's Robert Timmerman and William Hittson from radiation oncology and Medical Physicists Karen Chang and Josef Novotny. Radiosurgery is able to treat tumors which have recurred or