Neuro-Oncology

Morton Plant Hospital is one of the leading facilities in the Southeast for the evaluation and treatment of neurological conditions, including tumors of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. Our Neuro-Oncology Program offers a multidisciplinary approach that involves a comprehensive evaluation of the patient's disease and associated symptoms by specialists who have extensive experience managing cancers of the nervous system. Treatment programs are tailored to each individual patient and take into account the needs of patients and families while providing state-of-the-art care. We care for every aspect of this illness: from surgery and rehabilitation to emotional support and counseling.

Brain tumors account for one in every 100 cancers diagnosed annually in the United States. There are over 120 different types of brain tumors, making effective treatment very complicated. An additional 10,000 Americans develop spinal cord tumors each year, and about 40 percent of these are cancerous. Most malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord originate elsewhere in the body.

Neuro-Oncology Treatment Options

Surgical removal is the primary treatment for most, but not all, neuro-oncology conditions. Our respected neurosurgery team features specialists from all over the country, including a neurosurgeon, neuroradiologist, neurophysicist, and neuro-radiation oncologist.

Our neurosurgical team uses the latest techniques, including computer-assisted tumor removal (volumetric stereotactic resection). This technique allows the neurosurgeon to plan and simulate the surgical procedure to determine the safest and least invasive route to the brain tumor.

This surgery offers significant advances in patient care:

  • Smallest possible incision
  • Reduced injury to normal brain tissue
  • Opportunity to remove more complex tumors
  • Less blood loss and pain than in similar traditional surgery

We also offer a new non-surgical radiation treatment called stereotactic radiosurgery that precisely focuses radiation beams on the tumor. Because there is no incision, patients generally experience faster recovery with less blood loss and pain than traditional surgery.

Additional Treatment Options Can Prevent Recurrence

Our neurosciences program also offers radiation and chemotherapy treatments to treat tumors that cannot be cured by surgery alone, or where surgery is not possible.

Radiation uses high-energy rays to destroy tumor cells. It can be used after surgery to destroy any remaining tumor cells, or it may be used if surgery is not recommended. Radiation therapy generally involves daily treatments for approximately five to six weeks, performed on an outpatient basis.

In some cases, materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) are placed directly into the tumor to destroy tumor cells from the inside (internal radiation therapy).

Chemotherapy involves drugs, taken by mouth or intravenously, that can help kill tumor cells. Sometimes, to prevent a recurrence of the tumor, chemotherapy-coated wafers may be placed in the resection cavity after a tumor has been removed.

Learn more about:

For more information, please call (727) 461-8635. To schedule an appointment with one of our neurosurgeons, please call (727) 298-6121.

The Neurosciences Institute
at Ptak Orthopaedic & Neuroscience Pavilion
430 Morton Plant Street
Clearwater, FL 33756
(727) 461-8635