English
Español
Adult Brain Tumors
Learn about the most common types of adult brain tumors as well as how they are graded to help doctors determine the best course of treatment.
Pediatric Brain Tumors
With a specialized pediatric brain tumor program, Florida Hospital is the only Children’s Oncology Group (COG) program in central Florida. Learn more about how our doctors can help your child beat brain cancer.
Spine & Spinal Cord Tumors
Tumors in and around the spine and spinal cord aren’t as common as brain tumors, but they do occur. The majority of spinal cord tumors are found in children and young adults, but anyone can be diagnosed with a tumor at any point in their life.
Chemotherapy
Printer-friendly versionChemotherapy
Chemotherapy isn't usually used as a primary treatment for brain tumors. Rather, it is most effective as a follow-up to surgery or radiation therapy. It can also be used with patients who have recurrent or slowly progressing tumors who have already received initial rounds of treatment.
If chemotherapy is employed, doctors at the Florida Hospital Brain and Spine Tumor Program will administer it orally, send it into the bloodstream via an IV or inject it directly into the central nervous system. Once inside the body, the anti-tumor drugs seek out the growths and either kill the cells or prevent them from dividing.
If surgeons have removed the tumor, they may elect to put a wafer of chemotherapy drugs into the site of the tumor. This wafer then dissolves, delivering anti-tumor drugs directly to the location where the brain tumor was growing.
Though it has been used as a treatment for the last 30 years, the role of chemotherapy continues to evolve. New therapies are constantly being developed, including those that address genetic characteristics in specific brain tumors that make them sensitive to the effects of new generations of chemotherapy drugs.
Doctors at the Florida Hospital Brain and Spine Tumor Program may discuss these new drugs with you and how you can access them through clinical trials. As a leading brain tumor research facility, the program has access to advanced clinical trials that aren't available elsewhere in the region.