Brain Cancer 

A Team with Unmatched Expertise

Patients who receive the unexpected and overwhelming diagnosis of a brain tumor need to know that they have experience and expertise on their side. Geisinger brings together an impressive group of physicians whose experience, compassion, and multidisciplinary practices offer reassurance to each patient they treat.

Geisinger’s physicians were trained at the country’s leading healthcare institutions, each of which is well known for its brain tumor treatments.  As a result, Geisinger is able to offer treatment for tumors often considered inoperable. These physicians—surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, neurologists, and pathologists—meet weekly to determine the most effective treatment strategy for each individual patient. A multidisciplinary clinic allows the patient to see each member of the team during one visit and immediately receive a treatment plan.

At Geisinger, patients with brain tumors receive:

• Care from experienced specialists
• Cutting-edge technologies that aid in diagnosis and treatment
• Innovative clinical trials

Awake Craniotomy

With the combined experience of our neurophysiologist, neurosurgeons, and neuroanesthesiologists, Geisinger is able to offer awake craniotomy, a type of brain surgery that minimizes the potential loss of motor control. Awake craniotomy is a cutting-edge treatment that allows the patient to remain awake in order to respond to questions during surgery. This procedure allows surgeons to pinpoint the exact location of the tumor in order to protect surrounding, healthy tissue.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Stereotactic radiosurgery is an advanced technology that allows delivery of very precise radiation therapy in high doses to the exact tumor location. The procedure can be used to shrink a tumor instead of surgical removal and as a follow-up to surgery to eliminate any tumor particles that remain after surgery.

Planning for the Future

The brain tumor program and its physicians:

• Offers the latest procedures
• Develops technologies for the future 
• Plays a leading role nationally in clinical trials focusing on the use of nanotechnology in the detection of cancer  

Geisinger physicians are also studying the role genes and proteins play in brain tumors, and comparing information from the entire patient population in order to find trends that could point to earlier detection and treatment.