Neuro-Oncology
The Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology offers the most advanced care for patients with brain and nervous system tumors.
The Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center is one of the most experienced centers in New England offering advanced care for patients with brain cancer and all types of nervous system tumors.
Multidisciplinary Patient CareEach patient in our program is evaluated and cared for by a multidisciplinary team of experts who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of brain cancers and other types of nervous system tumors. The team meets regularly with patients and keeps referring physicians informed of their patients’ tests, treatments, and results in order to enhance communication and coordination of care.
These specialists include:
- Neuro-Oncologists
- Neurosurgeons
- Radiation oncologists
- Neuroradiologists
- Neuropathologists
- Psychiatrists
- Neuro-Oncology nurses and nurse practitioners
- Oncology social workers
ImagingAmong the sophisticated diagnostic imaging tools used at our center are:
- MRI
- MR spectroscopy
- Tractography
- Functional MRI
- PET/CT
- Combined PET/MRI
- Whole-body MRI scanning
PathologyOur internationally recognized neuropathology service plays a key role in clinical care and research. Our neuropathologists have discovered many of the molecular abnormalities underlying glioblastoma and other nervous system tumors. All tumors are evaluated by subspecialists who have access to the latest analysis methods, including molecular techniques. Neuropathologists participate in our team’s weekly tumor conferences, and they offer consultation and second opinions for referring physicians and patients around the world.
Comprehensive Treatment OptionsTreatment for many brain and nervous system tumors may involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or some combination of all three. Our integrated approach offers patients a unique combination of multidisciplinary care and the most advanced medical, surgicaland radiation therapies available.
The Cancer Center is a founding member of NABTT (New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy) and an active participant in RTOG (Radiation Therapy Oncology Group), two National Cancer Institute-sponsored consortia that oversee development of new therapies and improving outcomes for patients.
Among our cutting-edge therapies are:
- Biomedical imaging, new imaging technologies that are useful in detecting the biologic effects of treatment and the mechanisms by which therapeutic agents work
- Molecular classification of brain tumors, a study of the molecular genetic causes of brain tumors with an emphasis on malignant gliomas
- Brain tumor tissue bank, a clinical database and brain tumor tissue bank that will enhance clinical-genetic studies
Our center offers one of the nation’s leading research programs for neurological cancers. Some of our current clinical trials for brain cancer include:
- Angiogenesis inhibitors—drugs that stop or reduce the blood flow to a tumor--in the treatment of malignant glioma
- Molecularly-targeted therapeutics, agents that target the signaling pathways that allow tumors to replicate
- Enhancing chemosensitivity, agents that suppress the genes that are responsible for causing a resistance to chemotherapy, which may improve outcomes for patients with glioma
Among the advanced surgical techniques we offer are:
- Image-guided neurosurgery
- Intraoperative MR and CT imaging
- Stereotactic-guided biopsy and tumor resection, including frameless stereotaxy
- Microsurgery
- Surgical treatment in conjunction with radiation therapy
- Immune therapies, in which a vaccine is created using the patient’s own tumor cells and used to stimulate a tumor-specific immune response
- Oncolytic virus therapy, used in combination with conventional treatments as first-line therapy for this cancer
- Proton radiation therapy, a highly focused form of radiation that can be directed very precisely to the tumor while minimizing damage to nearby healthy tissue and critical structures
- Stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy, which was pioneered here and we are now one of the leading centers in the country to offer these precise radiation treatment methods
- Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which is a technologically complex radiation delivery method that can more precisely deposit high doses of radiation to the tumor while sparing nearby healthy tissue
- 3-D conformal radiation therapy, a highly precise method of delivering external radiation
- High dose rate brachytherapy, in which seeds that emit high doses of radiation are placed inside the body in the location of the tumor
- Neurofibromatosis, we are one of the first programs to be recognized as a comprehensive clinic for patients with NF 1, NF 2 and schwannomatosis, with an emphasis on family-centered care (both pediatric and adult)
- Cranial base, our program offers proton therapy among its therapeutic offerings for treating this condition, and is one of only in a few in the country to treat cranial base tumors
- CNS metastases, our program provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for patients with central nervous system metastases from primary tumors elsewhere in the body. Our program in CNS metastases includes a weekly, multidisciplinary clinic staffed by specialists in neuro-oncology, neurosurgery and radiation oncology specifically for patients with brain, spinal and meningeal metastases from other types of cancer. The program also has a number of innovative clinical trials for patients with CNS metastases.
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114
1-877-789-6100
Brain Tumors
A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain. The tumor can either originate in the brain itself, or come from another part of the body and travel to the brain (metastasize). Brain tumors may be classified as either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous), depending on their behavior.
Cancer Center
55 Fruit StreetBoston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-5130
Award-winning medical care 
Massachusetts General Hospital is recognized as a leader in patient care, education and research, ranking among the most prestigious medical institutions.
