Metastatic Brain Tumor Center

Metastatic brain tumors, also called brain metastases, are the most common type of cancerous brain tumors in adults. These tumors are a result of a cancer that started in another part of the body (for example, lung, breast or colon) and spread to the brain through the bloodstream.

The Metastatic Brain Tumor Center uses the latest advancements in surgery as well as radiation therapy to treat all types of brain metastases. Our team of experts decide on the appropriate treatment approach based on a patient’s tumor size, number and location.

For small size, multiple tumors (five-eight or fewer), we usually treat with a single or multiple session radiation treatment with our Gamma Knife or CyberKnife technologies. For more than than eight or ten small size tumors, radiation therapy on the whole brain may be a more effective option.

For larger size, single / few tumors, or if the tumor is in an area that is pressing on the brain and causing neurological problems (such as a speech problem, weakness, or numbness), surgery is our treatment of choice.

Neurosurgery Department Team

Multidisciplinary Team

Neuro-Oncologists

Pathologists

Radiation Oncologists
Timothy J. Kinsella, MD
Jaroslaw T. Hepel, MD
Thomas A. DiPetrillo, MD
M. Yakub Puthawala, MD
Kara Lynne Leonard, MD

Advanced Practitioners
Joseph Flynn, NP, Neurosurgery
Arieana A. Carcieri, NP, Neurology

Metastatic brain tumors (brain parenchyma, skull base, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis)

Bodour Salhia, PhD (USC)
Epigenetics of metastases

Jack Elias, MD (Brown University)
The role of the chitosome and inflammation in cancer

METIS Trial
Alternating electrical fields for brain metastases