Location

Maimonides Cancer Center 6300 Eighth Avenue Brooklyn, NY  11220 Map Link Phone: (718) 765-2500

Physicians and Staff

Amit Schwartz, MD Director, Division of Neursurgery Neurosurgeon (718) 283-7219

Erich Anderer, MD Neurosurgeon (718) 283-7219

Simone Betchen, MD, FACS Neurosurgeon (718) 283-7219

David Harter, MD Pediatric Neurosurgeon (212) 263-6419

Howard Weiner, MD Pediatric Neurosurgeon (212) 263-6419

Jeffrey Wisoff, MD Pediatric Neurosurgeon (212) 263-6419

About Brain and Spinal Tumors

Our brains serve as the center of thought, memory, emotion, speech, sensation, and motor function, while our spinal cords and cranial nerves carry and receive messages between the brain and the rest of the body. As one can imagine, the growth of a tumor in these key areas can have devastating complications, even if that tumor isn’t cancerous.

There are two basic types of brain tumors: primary and metastatic. Primary brain tumors start in the brain and can be both benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Metastatic brain tumors are always malignant and are caused by cancer elsewhere in the body—such as lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and others—that spreads to the brain. In addition, brain tumors in adults are different than those in children and may require a different treatment approach.

According to the National Brain Tumor Society, about 210,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor each year. For adults, metastatic brain tumors are more common than primary brain tumors, and occur in about one-fourth of all cancers that metastasize.

A spinal tumor is a growth of cells in or surrounding the spinal cord. Primary spinal tumors originating in the spine are rare, and can be malignant or benign. Most spinal tumors have metastasized to the spine from cancers in the breast, lung, colon, prostate, kidney or elsewhere.

Research studies on the diagnosis and treatment of brain and spinal tumors are being performed in medical centers across the country, including the Maimonides Cancer Center. Researchers are looking into new imaging methods, chemotherapy drugs, surgical techniques, radiation delivery methods and more in an ongoing effort to improve care for patients with brain and spinal tumors.

These websites are also excellent resources for information on brain and spinal tumors:

• National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS)
  http://www.braintumor.org
• The Brain Tumor Foundation (BTF)
  http://www.braintumorfoundation.org/
• Children's Brain Tumor Foundation
  http://www.cbtf.org/