Brain and Nervous System Cancer

St. Elizabeth Healthcare takes a team approach to diagnosing and treating brain and nervous system conditions. Our neurosurgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists work together with our entire cancer care team to create personalized treatment plans to treat brain and nervous system cancers.

Treatment of your tumors will depend on its type and location. Surgery is often the first step. At St. Elizabeth, we specialize in minimally invasive surgical approaches to remove tumors, sparing as much healthy tissue as possible.

Brain Tumors

Brain tumors can be cancerous or noncancerous masses. They can begin in your brain or be from another cancer that has spread to your brain. Brain tumors from other types of cancer (metastatic brain tumors) are more common than primary brain tumors.

Brain tumors are unique in every patient. They vary in size and how quickly they grow. Types of brain tumors include:

  • Astrocytoma — This is the most common type of cancerous brain tumor. It forms in the brain or on the spinal cord.

  • Brain stem glioma — This tumor can be cancerous or noncancerous. It occurs in the base of the brain. 

  • Oligodendroglioma — These cancerous brain tumors form in the cells of the brain and spine that protect nerve cells, called myelin.  

  • Glioblastoma — This tumor is the most common primary brain tumor. Glioblastomas are usually very aggressive tumors, and the average survival rate is 11 to 15 months. However, new immunotherapy treatments are extending life for patients.

  • Medulloblastoma — This cancerous tumor forms in the back part of the brain called the cerebellum, near the spinal cord. It often spreads to the spinal cord.

  • Meningioma — This is the most common type of noncancerous brain tumor. They form in the membrane that lines the skull and spinal canal. One out of three primary brain tumors is a meningioma tumor. In rare cases, they can become cancerous.

  • Pituitary tumors — Most pituitary tumors are noncancerous. They form in the pituitary gland and can cause your body to produce lower levels of hormones.

Doctors diagnose images from the patient's skull X-ray film to check for brain abnormalities.

Make an appointment

For more information, please contact your oncologist or the Cancer Care Center at (859) 301-4000

Symptoms of a brain tumor include:

  • Changes in speech, hearing, or personality.
  • Confusion.
  • Dizziness.
  • Feeling drowsy.
  • Headache.
  • Problems with balance or walking.
  • Seizures.
  • Vision problems.
  • Vomiting.
  • Weakness or numbness in the arms, legs, or face.

Causes of Brain Tumors

Brain tumors have a number of causes. They share some common risk factors, including:

  • Age — Brain tumors are more common in children and older adults. 

  • Gender — Men are more likely than women to develop a brain tumor.

  • Environmental exposure — Anyone who is exposed to harmful chemicals, electromagnetic fields or radiation may be at increased risk.

  • Family history — 5% of brain tumors are linked to genetic factors. 

  • Infections and viruses — The Epstein-Barr virus increases the risk of certain brain tumors, for instance

Brain and Nervous System Cancer Screening

Routine screenings for brain cancer before symptoms begin do not yet exist. If you have a family history or other risk factors, it’s important to keep an eye out for symptoms of brain cancer. If you have a number of risk factors, your doctor may also recommend regular imaging tests. If an imaging study detects anything suspicious, doctors can then take a tissue sample (biopsy) to see whether it’s cancer.

Genetic Testing for Brain and Nervous System Cancer

We know that a cancer diagnosis comes with many questions — including whether a family member is at risk for getting cancer too or whether your cancer diagnosis is hereditary. The certified genetic counselors at St. Elizabeth Healthcare are here to help you uncover those answers.

If you have a family history of cancer or are concerned about your risk, genetic counseling is an option to consider. Genetic counseling provides important information to you and your family about cancer risk and risk reduction and prevention.

For patients diagnosed with brain or nervous system cancer, our hereditary cancer program can provide important information to you and your family including information on inherited disease. Genetic testing can help determine how a cancer will respond to treatment. This information can help us plan a treatment approach specific to your type of cancer.

Brain and Nervous System Cancer Diagnosis

Brain and nervous system tumors can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Because there currently aren’t widely recommended tests to screen for these cancers, diagnosis usually occurs if a person has signs or symptoms.

We offer state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging for brain and nervous system cancers and other non-cancerous conditions, including:

  • Blood tests — Measures different properties in your blood, including hormones, enzymes, certain chemicals, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

  • Bone scans — Imaging test that helps determine if cancer has spread from its original site.

  • Imaging tests, including CT, MRI and PET scans — Procedures that provide an internal view of your system and any tumors or abnormal masses.

  • Intravenous pyelogram (IVP) — An exam in which a contrast agent is injected into your vein and then observed with X-rays as it outlines your kidneys, ureters and bladder.

  • Tissue biopsy — Removal of cells or tissues to determine whether cancer is present.

  • Ultrasound — Procedure that uses sound waves to view inside your body.

Dr. Ivan Bedoya speaks with a patient in a medical office.

Getting a Second Opinion

If you are diagnosed with brain or nervous system cancer, you want to make sure you have a team of experts by your side. We can provide a second opinion and present treatment options.

Brain and Nervous System Cancer Treatment

Treating brain and nervous system cancers requires an individualized approach that takes a wide range of factors into account, including the type and stage of your cancer and whether it’s spread into other areas of your body.

Treatment options may include:

  • Chemotherapy — Therapy that uses drugs injected through IV, taken by mouth or applied on the skin to attack and kill cancer cells.

  • Immunotherapy — Medication therapy that stimulates your immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

  • Radiation therapy — Therapy that uses high-energy radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells

  • Stem cell transplant — Treatment that replaces damaged or destroyed bone marrow cells with healthy cells produced by you or gathered from a donor.

  • Surgery — A procedure to remove cancer while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.

  • Targeted drug therapy — Treatment that uses medicine to specifically target a cells inner workings.

Brain and Nervous System Cancer Surveillance

When you’re diagnosed with or treated for brain or nervous system cancer, you have the entire team at St. Elizabeth Cancer Center to help. Your care does not end when active treatment is finished. We want to make sure your cancer doesn’t come back — and if it does, we want to make sure we catch it early.

Once your treatment is over, our cancer care team will create a schedule of follow-up visits so we can monitor your progress carefully. Because brain tumors are likely to recur, it’s important to keep in touch with your St. Elizabeth team so we can start treatment quickly.

Our team will be by your side from the minute you are diagnosed through your survivorship program.

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